Retired racer Shahrol Yuzy Ahmad Zaini told the Sun Daily that Rossi was stunned to see the daredevil exploits of the illegal motorcycle racers on public roads.

He said normally, after the race in Sepang, Rossi would have a night out in Kuala Lumpur.

He said Rossi first encountered the Mat Rempit during such a night, when a group of bikers overtook his car on the Sungai Besi Highway.

Some of them were lying flat on the seats of the bike, prompting Rossi to call Shahrol and ask: “I saw several motorcycles without riders. I saw a guy lying flat on the bike seat. Incredible! What was that?”

Shahrol said he laughed and replied: “That’s a trend here. We call them Mat Rempit. Can you do that, Valentino?”

Shahrol was speaking at the road safety forum “Pusara di Jalanraya: Sampai Bila?” (“Fatalities on the Road: For How Long?”) organised by Karangkraf recently.

Shahrol, who lived in Europe for seven years, wished to see Malaysian motorcyclists cease the practice of lane splitting or lane filtering – the act of riding or squeezing between vehicles during busy or slow-moving traffic.

“The bikers there (in Europe) wait for their turn to pass an intersection or traffic lights and they don’t ride between lanes of moving traffic or against the flow.

“Bikers here should value safety.”