The greatest motorcycle road racer of all time, Valentino Rossi, has slammed the current 800cc MotoGP World Championship era by stating that it’s the biggest mistake in 15 years.

Rossi has been crowned world champion in the 125cc, 250cc, 500cc, 990c MotoGP and 800cc MotoGP categories, but told Spanish magazine Motociclismo that it was a huge error to downsize the premier class to 800s in 2007.

“For me the spectacle with the 990 was the same as with the 500 – there were big battles and large slides,” the Italian megastar reportedly began. “This is what the public wants, no? The 990 slid a lot on the entry to the turns, and also on the exit of the corners.

“With the 800, I believe that they are the biggest mistake the world championship has made in the last 15 years. We have lost a great part of the spectacle and part of this is because electronics have advanced so much – the manufacturers committed a great error when they changed to 800cc. The 990s were better in every way.”

Rossi’s claims come just weeks after it has been speculated that he’ll likely join Ducati in 2011, seeing his dream of winning the title on an Italian motorcycle closer to becoming a reality.

The news broke at Misano’s recent GP that Rossi was interested in a potential switch after it was confirmed that Jorge Lorenzo would be remaining at Yamaha and receiving the same level of support as the eight-time world champion.

Ducati has recently been bidding on all of the premier MotoGP riders including Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa to ride the difficult Desmosedici, but having Rossi would be the ultimate catch for Ducati and title sponsor Marlboro.