Valentino Rossi always looked like he was having fun, even when things weren't going his way. Now that he has retired from active duty on the race track, he can concentrate on being what he is so good at: being a big kid with all the best toys to play with.

Valentino Rossi Is Still a Big Kid At heart

For 26 years, Valentino Rossi was the darling of fans and the media for his high-spirited high jinks on and off the race track. That he had the talent to back up the horsing around only serves to make the story even better: it wasn't just arrogant exuberance but a belief in his own ability and the joy that it brought him.

Now retired and destined for a mentorship role at his new MotoGP team to go alongside the VR46 Academy riders in the lower formulae, the proof that it was the real Valentino Rossi we were seeing on the track for all those years can be seen in a new docu-series featuring Rossi being interviewed by American journalist Graham Bensinger.

While he is shown talking about his history and his future, opening up as never before, what comes across is still Rossi's love of life and riding bikes. At his Ranch near his home town of Tavullia, he is like a kid in a candy store: not so much 'look at me, aren't I amazing for setting all this up' but more, 'we have so much fun here,' with the emphasis on the 'we' for what is the point in having a playground if you are the only one playing in it? If fame was a burden, it sits very lightly on Rossi's shoulders and it is clear that it is destined to do so until the day he dies.

Even when the track is too wet to ride a dirt bike, he simply climbs in his 400bhp Ford Focus ST and goes out for an opposite lock lap or two, with all the enthusiasm of a little kid, not someone who's been doing this for most of his life.

It's available to watch for free on Youtube. There are 17 'episodes' in all, ranging from three minutes to around seven. It covers everything from his racing to his personal life. It's well worth a watch. Click on the video above and it will take you to the Youtube page with all of them.