In a house on a hill on the outskirts of Bergamo, near Milan, lives the king of motorcycling and he is not happy. This is Giacomo Agostini, former film star, serial seducer and owner of all-time bragging rights. It is three decades since the romantic hero stopped flirting with women and death, but the memories remain vivid, which is why he is angry about what he sees as the lost grand prix.

Tomorrow, in Valencia, Valentino Rossi will wrap up the MotoGP season, having secured an eighth world title. Some have suggested that Rossi will go on to surpass Agostini's fabled mark of 122 grand prix wins. Fabled and, according to the man himself, flawed. “They talk about Valentino beating my 122, but I actually won 123,” he said. “The record books don't count my 750cc win at Hockenheim in 1977. My last victory. It is wrong. Valentino can win at 800cc, 1,000cc and 125cc, but they won't count my 750cc victory.”

It may sound a minor point, but it shows how passionate Agostini is about his legacy. Rossi, who has 97 wins, is respectful of the legend and has struck a retirement deal with him. “Valentino said to me that when he gets one short of my number he will ask me whether he should stay or go. People expect me to be happy when he breaks my records, but why should I be?”

Agostini is at least happy that Rossi's record-breaking feats this year - he passed Agostini's 68 wins in the elite MotoGP class - have brought his name to a new generation. That is only right as Agostini's story is a mesmerising one, his longevity and 15 world titles amazing, given the dangers of old. He tells a story of seeing one young racer crash at Vallelunga in Rome and lose of his arms. “He stood up and they had been amputated,” Agostini said. “It was terrible back then. When I raced against Mike Hailwood on the Isle of Man in 1967, we both finished with white chalk down one side of our black leathers because we had been brushing the walls.”

Agostini fell out of love with the TT races, in which he won ten times, in 1972, when Gilberto Parlotti, a friend, was killed. “I took him around the circuit the night before in my car,” he said. “He was in the 125cc race at 9.30am, I was in the senior race at 11am. When I got to the pits they told me he had crashed. Nobody said he had died but I could tell by their eyes.

“In our era people were killed almost every week. Once it was snowing and the organisers said, 'Go!' We said ‘it's snowing, people are dying', but they didn't care. We would think, ‘Maybe this is our last race.' That messes up your insides.”

The similarities between the 66-year-old and the man who has succeeded him as Italy's most exciting export are manifold. Both caused a furore by leaving an all-conquering manufacturer for Yamaha, both were offered jobs driving for Ferrari in Formula One, both have magnetic appeal.

“I won one race in France and took the model who gave me the trophy out for dinner,” Agostini said. “At one point the phone rang and it was her boyfriend asking if she was going to be much longer! That wasn't unusual. Another time a husband accompanied his wife to a dinner with me and he waited in the bar while ...”

Flair and Latin machismo meant that Agostini fraternised with royalty and Hollywood stars. He made three films and dined with Gina Lollobrigida and Imelda Marcos. Like Rossi, he dragged motorcycling from its outsider status towards the mainstream. Then, in 1982, Agostini, as a team manager, signed Graziano Rossi, later the most famous father in the paddock.

Agostini remains a success. His cavernous villa is decked out with art and trophies and 15 bikes are in the garage, one for every title. Rossi's revival, after two barren years, is huge news in Italy; only Agostini had regained the title after such a lull. “It's hard to compare between generations, but Valentino is the best of his, I was of mine,” Agostini said. “The difference between Valentino and his rivals? They are very good, but he is great.”

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