Valentino Rossi's father breaks silence on painful family feud: ‘That hug never came’
Rossi's father penned a letter to his children (Credit: Apex Agency)
16:30, 29 Sep
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Connor Andrews is Formula 1 and MotoGP writer for GPblog and various outlets. Having worked in motorsport for 15 years for leading companies, he has interviewed the sports biggest names and attended multiple Grands Prix.
Valentino Rossi’s estranged father has addressed an open letter to the MotoGP legend and his sister.
Graziano Rossi currently isn’t on speaking terms with his children after a number of lawsuits between family members.
Valentino filed a complaint against Graziano’s third wife, Ambra Arpino, earlier this year, where he alleged she was ‘defrauding an incompetent person’.
Valentino’s sister Clara supported her brother’s claims, but the court ruled in favour of Graziano and his new wife.
Clara then took Graziano to court, asking that he continue to pay €1,500 per month in child support, but she later withdrew her demands.
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Now, singer-songwriter Clara has released a new album and mentioned her father at a release event where Valentino was in attendance.
She is quoted as saying: "Dad, I love you, and everything will be okay. I didn't do anything for money.”
Valentino Rossi's father responds with open letter
Now, in another turn of events, Graziano has responded in a lengthy letter sent to Italian outlet il Resto del Carlino.
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The letter is largely addressed to Clara, but also references Valentino and his upcoming book release.
In it he writes: “There's one thing that's worth more than any book, any record, or any interview: the courage to look someone we've hurt in the eyes and simply say, 'I'm sorry.'
“I've never closed that door. But I can't be the one, every time, to have to open it.”
Rossi is still present in the MotoGP paddock and has an autobiography coming out later this year (Credit: Apex Agency)
He adds of Clara and the years of litigation: “I ask myself one question, with all possible serenity: if this was truly the feeling, why not say it two and a half years ago, before escalating into a two-year legal battle?
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“Because today's words, as beautiful and understandable as they are, come after very specific facts.
“They come after a four-year legal case involving my wife and me, after accusations, disputes, expert reports, and moments that, for those who experience them firsthand, cannot be erased by an interview or a phrase uttered to promote a book or album.
“I don't want to prevent anyone from telling their truth. Everyone is free to tell their story as they feel and remember it. But I, too, have the right to tell mine.
“And my story isn't just made up of statements. It's also made up of documents, records, lawyers' papers, and a legal case that had an outcome I consider very important.
“This is why I struggle to accept that today everything can be told as if, ultimately, it was never about money. Because if it wasn't, then I wonder why it was necessary to get to that point.”
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Graziano Rossi: ‘That hug never came’
He continues: “Despite everything, I never stopped being a father, and this is precisely what hurts me the most.
“A case can end. A lawyer can file a document. A judge can rule. The papers can have their say. But a father is still a father. And so I ask myself: after everything that's happened, after the accusations, after the insults, after four years of legal proceedings, wouldn't it have been more humane, at least once, to simply come to my door?
“Simply to say: ‘Dad, maybe we made a mistake. Let's try to take a step back’. Or, even more simply, to give me a hug.
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“That hug never came. And believe me, for a father, sometimes it weighs much more than any cheque, any sentence, or any article.
“I've made mistakes. I never thought I was a perfect father. No father is. But one thing I know: I gave what I could give, I did what I thought was right, and even in the most difficult moments, I never stopped considering my daughter my daughter.
“That's why I don't want to start a war of words today. Words, as they say, can go to the wind. The papers, however, remain. The facts remain. And above all, the pain of what a father had to go through when he only wanted to be a father remains.
“Because you can't ask someone to forget four years of suffering simply because today they prefer to tell a different story.”
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