Valentino Rossi (/ˈrɒsi/; Italian: [valenˈtiːno ˈrossi]; born 16 February 1979) is an Italian professional motorcycle road racer and multiple MotoGP World Champion.
Rossi is widely considered one of the greatest motorcycle racers of all time, with nine Grand Prix World Championships to his name – seven of which are in the premier class. Rossi is also the only road racer to have competed in 400 or more Grands Prix.[1] He has ridden with number 46 his entire career, also when being the title defender.
After graduating to the premier class in 2000, Rossi won the 500cc World Championship and 8 Hours of Suzuka with Honda in 2001, the MotoGP World Championships (also with Honda) in 2002 and 2003 and continued his streak of back-to-back championships by winning the 2004 and 2005 titles after leaving Honda to join Yamaha. All of those titles were won in a dominant manner, being decided before the final round on all occasions. He lost the 2006 title with a crash in the final round at Valencia, ceding the title to his former Honda teammate Nicky Hayden. In 2007 Rossi and Yamaha were of no match to a dominant Casey Stoner on a Ducati, and Rossi ultimately finished a then career-low third overall.
Rossi regained the title in 2008 following several tight duels with title defendant Stoner and retained it in 2009.[2] After a 2010 marred by a broken leg and no title challenge, Rossi left Yamaha to join Ducati for the 2011 season.[3][4] Rossi replaced Stoner at Ducati, who went on to win the 2011 title with Honda instead while Rossi endured a difficult spell with his compatriot marque. It was confirmed in 2012 that he would rejoin Yamaha for the 2013 and 2014 seasons[5] after Rossi suffered two winless seasons while at Ducati.
Following his return to Yamaha he has finished second overall in 2014, 2015 and 2016. Rossi led the championship for the vast majority of the 2015 season before being surpassed by team colleague Jorge Lorenzo in the final round at Valencia, with Rossi losing out as a result of a grid penalty sustained for a controversial clash with Honda rider Marc Márquez in the previous Malaysian round. During Rossi's second stint at Yamaha, Márquez won multiple titles in succession with Rossi often having to settle for podium finishes and only occasional wins. After Rossi won the 2017 Dutch TT, a winless streak of multiple years followed, although he managed to finish third in the 2018 championship even during this period.
Rossi is currently contracted to race until the end of the 2020 season, when he will be 41 years old.[6] He is also a team owner of junior class team Sky Racing Team by VR46 that competes in Moto2 and Moto3.
Rossi has a maternal half-brother, Luca Marini, who is currently racing in the 2019 Moto2 season for the Sky Racing Team by VR46
Career
Early career
Rossi was born in Urbino, Marche[8] and he was still a child when the family moved to Tavullia. Son of Graziano Rossi, a former motorcycle racer, he first began riding at a very young age.[9] Rossi's first racing love was karting. Fuelled by his mother, Stefania's, concern for her son's safety, Graziano purchased a kart as substitute for the bike. However, the Rossi family trait of perpetually wanting to go faster prompted a redesign; Graziano replaced the 60cc motor with a 100cc national kart motor for his then 5-year-old son.[10]
Rossi won the regional kart championship in 1990.[11] After this he took up minimoto and before the end of 1991 had won numerous regional races.[9]
Rossi continued to race karts and finished fifth at the national kart championships in Parma. Both Valentino and Graziano had started looking at moving into the Italian 100cc series, as well as the corresponding European series, which most likely would have pushed him into the direction of Formula One. However, the high cost of racing karts led to the decision to race minimoto exclusively.[citation needed] Through 1992 and 1993, Valentino continued to learn the ins and outs of minimoto racing.
In 1993, with help from his father, Virginio Ferrari, Claudio Castiglioni and Claudio Lusuardi (who ran the official Cagiva Sport Production team), Rossi rode a Cagiva Mito 125cc motorcycle for the team, which he damaged in a first-corner crash no more than a hundred metres from the pit lane.[12] He finished ninth that race weekend.[12]
Although his first season in the Italian Sport Production Championship was varied, he achieved a pole position in the season's final race at Misano, where he would ultimately finish on the podium. By the second year, Rossi had been provided with a factory Mito by Lusuardi and won the Italian title.
In 1994, Rossi raced in the Italian 125 CC Championship with a prototype called Sandroni, using a Rotax engine. The bike was built by Guido Mancini, a former rider and mechanic who had worked, in the past, with Loris Capirossi. A documentary about Mancini, called "Mancini, the Motorcycle Wizard" (Il Mago Mancini), was released in 2016 by director Jeffrey Zani and explains the birth of the motorcycle and the relationship between Rossi and the mechanic.
In 1995, Rossi switched to Aprilia and won the Italian 125 CC Championship. He was third in the European Championship.
125cc World Championship
Aprilia (1996–1997)
1996
The 1996 championship season marks the debut of Valentino Rossi. He had some success in his first year, scoring consistent points and sometimes finishing just off the podium from his very first race at Malaysia to Italy, but retired in both the French and Dutch rounds. He scored more points by finishing fifth at the German but once again retired at the British round.
At the 1996 Austrian Grand Prix, Valentino would score his first ever podium in the form of a third place after battling with Jorge Martínez.[13][14] At the next race, which was the 1996 Czech Republic Grand Prix, he scored his first ever pole position on Saturday and his first ever race victory in the 125cc class on an AGV Aprilia RS125R on Sunday, after fighting with Jorge Martínez.[15]
After his victory, Rossi would continue to score points in Imola, retire twice at the Catalan and Rio rounds, and score even more points at the last round in Australia. He would finish his first season in ninth place with 111 points.
1997
In his second year, the 1997 championship season, he moved from the AGV team to the official Nastro Azzurro Aprilia Team and would go on to dominate the season. He would immediately start with a pole and race win at the 1997 Malaysian Grand Prix, but retire at the next race in Japan. He would bounce back in the next two races, winning the Spanish and Italian rounds. He finished second in Austria, just 0.004 seconds behind race winner Noboru Ueda,[13][14] but would score a flurry of race victories from France to Britain, including three pole positions at the Dutch, Imola and German rounds.
He scored a third place at the Czech round, and would go on to pick up two more wins at the Catalan and Indonesian rounds. He finished in sixth place in Australia. He won the 1997 125cc title, winning 11 of the 15 races with 321 points.[16] Throughout the 1997 season, he would on few occasions dress up as Robin Hood and carry a blow-up doll. This fun-loving character gained him many fans throughout this and the future seasons.[17]
250cc World Championship
Aprilia (1998–1999)
1998
After winning the title in 1997, Rossi moved up to the 250cc class the following year. In 1998, the Aprilia RS250 was reaching its pinnacle and had a team of riders in Valentino Rossi, Loris Capirossi and Tetsuya Harada. Rossi's year started off poor, retiring in the first two rounds: Japan and Malaysia. He would bounce back by scoring three consecutive second places in Spain, Italy and France, but would once again retire at the Madrid round.
He scored his first victory at the 1998 Dutch TT, winning with more than 19 seconds from second place Jürgen Fuchs.[18] He would retire once again at the British round, but bounced back by scoring a podium place in Germany, finishing third.
He would once more retire in the Czech Republic, crashing out of the race, but a flurry of victories from Imola to Argentina saw him end in second place in his rookie year in the class with 201 points, just 23 points clear of 1998 250cc champion Loris Capirossi.
1999
In his second year in the 250cc class, 1999, Rossi became the sole driver of the official Aprilia Grand Prix Racing team, and would once again dominate the season. He would start the season off with a pole in Malaysia on Saturday, but finished fifth on race day. He would pick up further points in Japan and went on to win his first race of the season at the third round in Spain.
Rossi scored his second pole position of the season in France, but would retire from the race on Sunday. He bounced back with back-to-back wins in Italy and Catalunya, and would finish in second place at the Dutch round, narrowly losing out on the race victory with Loris Capirossi. He won three more races from Britain to the Czech Republic, including a pole in Germany.
Rossi finished second once again in Imola[19] and off the podium in eighth place at the Valencian Community round. He finished the season strong, with three more race wins in Australia where he fought hard with Olivier Jacque,[20] South Africa[21] and Rio de Janeiro, and a third place in Argentina[22] after scoring pole position on Saturday.
He won the title in Rio de Janeiro with one round left and finished the season in first place with 309 points, granting him his first 250cc world championship title and his second title overall.[23]
500cc World Championship
Honda (2000–2001)
2000
Rossi was rewarded in 2000 for his 250cc World Championship by being given a ride with Honda in what was then the ultimate class in World Championship motorcycle racing, the 500cc. Five-time retired 500cc World Champion Mick Doohan, who also had Jeremy Burgess as chief engineer, worked with Rossi as his personal mentor in his first year at Honda. It was also the first time Rossi raced against Max Biaggi.
Rossi started his first year in the 500cc class off with two retirements in the first two rounds: he crashed out of the South African[24] and Malaysian rounds.[25] He scored points at the third round in Japan, and would pick up two third-place finishes in Spain and France.[26] Rossi picked up additional points in Italy and would pick up another third place at the Catalan round.[27] He picked up points by finishing in sixth place at the 2000 Dutch TT.
It took nine races before Rossi won on the Honda, but his first 500cc victory came after a fierce battle with the Suzuki of Kenny Roberts Jr. and the Aprilia of Jeremy McWilliams. On a track which was affected by ever changing weather conditions and despite only qualifying in seventh position on Saturday, Rossi chose the right tyres and stormed through the field to battle with Roberts Jr. and McWilliams to win his first race in the 500cc class.[28][29] After his victory in Donington Park, Rossi would go on to score consecutive podium places in three races: two second-place finishes in Germany[30] and the Czech Republic[31] and one third-place finish in Portugal.[32] He would retire from the Valencian Community round after crashing out of the race.[33]
Rossi won the Rio round. However, it was Kenny Roberts Jr. who clinched the 2000 title after finishing in sixth position, which gave him an unassailable lead in the championship.[34][35][36] After his second win, he would go on to finish second at the Pacific round[37] and third at the Australian round.[38][39] He finished second in his rookie season in the 500cc class with 209 points.
2001
Rossi dominated his second season in the 500cc class, scoring 11 wins and only finishing off the podium three times. He started the year off with a victory in Japan[40] after battling with Max Biaggi and two poles and race wins at the South African[41] and Spanish rounds. He would finish the French race in third place[42] but crashed out of the Italian round whilst being in the lead of the wet race,[43] after he scored another pole on Saturday.[44]
Rossi bounced back by scoring pole position and winning the following race in Catalunya despite making a poor start which dropped him to 15th place at the end of the first lap.[45] He would score a second place after narrowly losing out on the race victory with Biaggi at the Dutch round, and once again won another race: this time the British GP.
Rossi finished a disappointing seventh in Germany, but scored back-to-back wins in the Czech Republic (gaining a 29-point advantage over Biaggi)[46] and Portugal. He would score another disappointing result at the Valencian Community round when he finished in 11th place, but would score a string of race wins from the Pacific to the Rio rounds.
Rossi won his first 500cc title with 325 points and third title overall,[47] 106 points ahead of Biaggi, who became Rossi's main rival during the season. Rossi also was the first and only satellite rider to clinch the title. During the season, Rossi also teamed up with American rider Colin Edwards for the Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race aboard a Honda VTR1000SPW, becoming the first Italian rider to win the race. The pair won the race despite Rossi's lack of experience racing superbikes. In 2002, 500cc two-strokes were still allowed, but saw the beginning of the 990cc four-stroke MotoGP class, after which the 500cc machines were essentially obsolete.
MotoGP World Championship
Honda (2002–2003)
2002
The inaugural year for the MotoGP bikes was 2002, when riders experienced teething problems getting used to the new bikes.
Rossi started the year off strong and won the first race in wet conditions in Japan, beating several local riders who were racing as wildcards.[48] He also took the pole position in the first five races.
Rossi finished second in South Africa, where his teammate Tohru Ukawa took his first and only victory in the MotoGP class. He then scored victories from the Spanish to the German rounds, including two pole positions at the Dutch and British GPs. He registered his only retirement of the season at the Czech Republic round,[49] before scoring back-to-back wins in Portugal and Rio, two second-place finishes at the Pacific and Malaysia, another victory in Australia and another second place at the last race at the Valencian Community.
Rossi went on to win eight of the first nine races of the season, eventually claiming 11 victories in total.[50] Rossi clinched his second title at Rio de Janeiro,[51] and fourth title overall with four races left to go.
2003
It was more of the same for Rossi's rivals in 2003. Rossi scored consistent podiums, took pole and won the first round of the season in Japan, but the race was marred by the death of Japanese rider Daijiro Kato who crashed at the 130R and hit the barrier at high speed in the ensuing Casio Triangle.[52][52][53] Rossi finished second at the South African round before winning again in Spain, despite falling back to ninth place on the opening lap.[54][55]
Rossi scored three pole positions in the next three races and finished second in France after battling Sete Gibernau, who overtook him on the last lap,[56][57] first in Italy[58] and second once again in Catalunya.[59] He scored two third-place finishes at the Dutch and British rounds - the latter the result of a 10-second penalty for overtaking under yellow flags, gifting victory to Max Biaggi in the process - and yet another second place in Germany, once again battling Gibernau who denied him victory with just 0.060 seconds separating both when they crossed the finish line.[60][61][62]
After Germany, Rossi won three more races and scored two more poles: a pole position converted into a victory came at the Czech Republic, once again battling championship rival Givernau, whom Rossi overtook on the final lap to take victory by just 0.042 seconds,[63] a regular victory came in Portugal and another pole-victory came at the Rio de Janeiro round.[64][65] He finished second at the Pacific GP after a mistake made him run off into the gravel and relegated him to ninth, which made it impossible for him to catch race winner Biaggi in the closing laps.[66]
Rossi ended his season in style by scoring three consecutive poles and race wins at the Malaysian, Australian and Valencian Community rounds. The Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island is considered by many observers to be one of Rossi's greatest career moments due to the unique circumstances. After being given a ten-second penalty for overtaking Marco Melandri during a yellow flag due to a crash by Ducati rider Troy Bayliss, front runner Rossi pulled away from the rest of the field after being informed of the penalty, eventually finishing more than 15 seconds ahead, overcoming the penalty and winning the race.[67][68]
Rossi won the 2003 title in Malaysia, his first in the MotoGP class, third in the top class and fifth title overall, with two races remaining.[69] He won the final race at the Valencian Community round with a special livery, his final win for Honda.[70]
Partnered with increased scepticism that the reason for his success was the dominance of the RC211V rather than Rossi, it was inevitable that Honda and Rossi would part.[71] Mid-season rumours pointed towards a possible move to Ducati, which sent the Italian press into a frenzy; the concept of Rossi on the great Italian bike seemed too good to be true. Ducati did indeed try to seduce Rossi into riding their MotoGP bike, the Desmosedici, but for numerous reasons Rossi passed the offer up. Critics say that compared to the other manufacturers, Ducati had a significant way to go before being competitive even with Rossi at the helm. This proved to be the truth with Ducati's lacklustre performance in the 2004 season, which had actually been worse than their inaugural year in MotoGP in 2003. In his 2005 autobiography, What If I'd Never Tried It?, Rossi offered another reason for choosing Yamaha over Ducati, saying that the mindset at Ducati Corse was similar to the one he was trying to escape from at Honda. Ultimately, Rossi signed a two-year contract with rivals Yamaha reportedly worth in excess of US$12 million; a price no other manufacturer, even Honda, was willing to pay.[72]
Yamaha (2004–2010)
2004
Rossi made the switch from Honda to Yamaha and signed a two-year contract with the team.[73] Many doubted his move and would expect Biaggi, who joined the Honda Pons team a year earlier, to be a genuine contender for the title this year.
With the traditional first race of the season at Suzuka off the list due to safety considerations following the fatal accident of Daijiro Kato, the 2004 season started at Welkom in South Africa. Rossi took the pole on Saturday and won the South African race after a hard-fought battle with Max Biaggi, becoming the only rider to win consecutive races with different manufacturers, having won the final race of the previous season on his Honda bike.[74][75] Rossi took another pole in Spain but his fourth-place finish on Sunday saw the end of a 23-race podium streak.[76] He would once again miss out on the podium in France but would respond with three victories in Italy[77][78] and Catalunya[79] where Rossi fought hard with Gibernau throughout the race, and a pole-victory at the Dutch round.
Arriving at the Rio de Janeiro round, Rossi crashed out of the race when he lost the front of his M1 and slid into the gravel whilst battling with Makoto Tamada, Max Biaggi, Nicky Hayden and Alex Barros, retiring from the race in the process.[80] After the Rio round, Rossi would find himself once more off the podium in fourth place at the German GP[81] but bounced back by winning the British round from pole.[82] He then went on to finish second in the Czech Republic,[83] first in Portugal and second once again in Japan.[84]
At the inaugural Qatar round, controversy arose when Rossi's team was penalised by starting at the back of the grid for grid cleaning. Gibernau won the race, whilst Rossi crashed out of the race when he sat in sixth position.[85][86][87] Despite this second DNF of the season, Rossi would score a pole which he converted into a race win at Malaysia and two more regular victories at the Australian and Valencian Community rounds, battling with the likes of Troy Bayliss, Nicky Hayden, Makoto Tamada and Max Biaggi to take his ninth victory of the year.[88]
Rossi finished first with 304 points to Gibernau's 257, with Max Biaggi third with 217 points. He clinched his third MotoGP, fourth top class and sixth overall championship at the penultimate race of the season at Phillip Island, beating Gibernau by just 0.097 seconds to do so
