The MotoGP great Valentino Rossi will not be retiring from the sport in the wake of friend Marco Simoncelli dying after a crash with his fellow Italian.
Honda's Simoncelli died after a horror collision early on in Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix when he was struck by the bikes of Rossi and Colin Edwards and had his helmet knocked off.
Rossi, a winner of nine world titles across the classes, was so distraught by the accident that the only public words the Ducati rider has uttered since have been on Twitter.
Davide Brivio, his manager at former team Yamaha, denied widespread internet and media rumours that Rossi was too upset to carry on racing.
Tributes have continued to pour in for the 24-year-old Simoncelli from the motorsport community with his death coming only a week after British IndyCar driver Dan Wheldon lost his life in a 15-car crash in Las Vegas.
MotoGP bosses have started an investigation into Simoncelli's accident but have said it is too soon to comment on the fact his helmet came off.
