Valentino Rossi commenced his 26th grand prix season and his 22nd in the premier MotoGP class on March 28, thereby extending his record as the sport’s longest-serving rider. Rossi’s career also betters those of Formula 1’s most enduring drivers, Kimi Räikkönen and Rubens Barrichello. This is especially impressive because each time the seven-time MotoGP champion ventures out of the pitlane he’s protected not by an almost indestructible carbon-fibre safety cell but by a suit of kangaroo leather.