Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez may have waltzed off with the last two MotoGP titles but even his outstanding performances were not enough in the eyes of bikesportnews.com readers who have voted nine-time world champion Valentino Rossi as their MotoGP Rider of the Year.

The 35-year-old came back from Ducati, spent a year learning the Yamaha and, in 2014, claimed second in the title chase as both Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa failed to provide a good enough challenge for their old nemesis.

The Doctor polled a whopping 54.84 per cent of the votes with Marquez second on 20.66 per cent and Scott Redding third on 9.51 per cent. Bradley Smith took fourth place with 4.02 per cent with Andrea Dovizioso fifth with 3.66 per cent.