Valentino Rossi ( ; ; born 16 February 1979) is an Italian racing driver, former professional motorcycle road racer, and nine-time Grand Prix motorcycle racing World Champion. Nicknamed "the Doctor", he is widely considered one of the greatest motorcycle racers of all time. Rossi is also the only road racer to have competed in 400 or more Grands Prix. Of Rossi's nine Grand Prix World Championships, seven were in the premier 500cc/MotoGP class. He holds the record for most premier class victories and podiums, with 89 victories and 199 podiums to his name.
Rossi's motorcycle racing career spanned the transition from the two-stroke era of the 1990s to the MotoGP four-stroke era of the 21st Century. After winning World Championships in the 125 and 250 classes, he won the final 500cc World Championship of the two-stroke era in 2001. Rossi won MotoGP World Championships with the factory Repsol Honda team in 2002 and 2003 and with Yamaha in 2004 and 2005. After two less successful seasons, he regained the title in 2008 and retained it in 2009. After a 2010 season marred by a broken leg and no title defense, he left Yamaha to join the Ducati factory team, but endured two winless seasons with the Italian marque. Having returned to Yamaha in 2013, Rossi took three successive runner-up positions in 2014, 2015, and 2016. His best chance of winning a tenth title came in 2015, where he led the standings for most of the season but finished five points behind team-mate Jorge Lorenzo, the eventual champion. 2017 was the final season in which he achieved over 200 championship points, and he won his final race victory in the 2017 Dutch TT at the age of 38. After three winless seasons with the Yamaha factory team, he moved to Petronas SRT for 2021, and retired at the season's conclusion.
The dominant force in MotoGP in the 2000s, all of Rossi's seven premier class titles came in this decade, including 77 race wins and 48 pole positions. In the next 12 seasons, he managed 12 race wins and seven pole positions. Rossi was inducted into the MotoGP Hall of Fame as an official Legend by the FIM after the conclusion of the 2021 season. His #46 bike number, with which he rode his entire career, was retired at the 2022 Italian Grand Prix. Rossi owns and manages the VR46 Racing Team, which competes in MotoGP as of 2025. In addition to his team management role, Rossi competes full-time in the FIA World Endurance Championship, driving for Team WRT, in a BMW M4 GT3, which also bears the now iconic number 46.
Career Rossi was born in Urbino, in the Marche region of Italy, on 16 February 1979. While he was a child, his family moved to Tavullia. The son of former motorcycle racer Graziano Rossi, he began riding at a very young age. Rossi began with kart racing rather than minimoto racing due to his mother, Stefania's, concern for her son's safety. Rossi first rode a go-kart in 1985. In 1990, Rossi won the regional kart championship. In 1993, Rossi was given his first opportunity to ride a 125cc motorcycle by former world champion Paolo Pileri, who had become a team manager after retiring from competition. Later in 1993, Rossi competed in the 125 cc Italian Sport Production Championship on a Cagiva Mito alongside teammate Vittoriano Guareschi.MCN Sport, Winter 2010, p. 28, Bauer Automotive, Petersborough, Cambs. At his first race meeting, he crashed twice, eventually finishing ninth.
125cc World Championship
The 1996 championship season saw the debut of Rossi, then 17, in Grand Prix motorcycle racing. He had some success in his first year, scoring consistent points in his races from Malaysia to Italy, retiring in both the French and Dutch rounds. He finished fifth in Germany, but suffered another retirement in the British round. At the 1996 Austrian Grand Prix, Rossi achieved his first ever podium by finishing in third place after battling with Jorge Martínez. In the following race, the 1996 Czech Republic Grand Prix, he achieved both his first ever pole position and his first ever race victory in the 125cc class. He rode an AGV Aprilia RS125R and won after another tussle with Jorge Martínez. Rossi earned points at Imola but was forced to retire in both the Catalan and Rio rounds. He then scored points in the final round in Australia, ultimately finishing his first season in ninth place with 111 points.
In his second year, the 1997 championship season, Rossi moved from the AGV team to the Nastro Azzurro Aprilia Team and went on to dominate the season. He took pole and the race win at the 1997 Malaysian Grand Prix but retired from the next race in Japan. In the next two races, he bounced back by winning the Spanish and Italian rounds. Rossi finished second in Austria,Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: then scored a flurry of victories from France to Britain, including three pole positions in the Dutch, Imola, and German rounds. After third place in the Czech round, Rossi then gained two more wins in the Catalan and Indonesian races. He finished sixth in Australia. He won the 1997 125cc title, winning 11 of the 15 races with 321 points. Throughout the season, he often celebrated in unusual ways such as dressing up as Robin Hood, which earned him media attention.
250cc World Championship After winning the 125cc title in 1997, Rossi moved up to the 250cc class the following year. In the 1998 season, the Aprilia RS250 was reaching its pinnacle and had a team of riders in Rossi, Loris Capirossi, and Tetsuya Harada. Rossi had to retire from the first two races in Japan and Malaysia. He then scored three consecutive second places in Spain, Italy, and France, but retired once more from the Madrid round. He took his first 250cc victory at the 1998 Dutch TT. He had to retire from the British Grand Prix but bounced back by achieving a podium place in Germany, finishing third. In the Czech Republic, he crashed out of the race, but then enjoyed a series of victories from Imola to Argentina. He finished the season, as the championship runner-up with 201 points, just 23 points behind champion Loris Capirossi.
In the 1999 season, his second year in the 250cc class, Rossi became the sole rider of the official Aprilia Grand Prix Racing team, and dominated the championship. He took pole position in Malaysia but finished fifth in the race. He gained further points in Japan and went on to win the third round in Spain. Rossi had his second pole position of the season in France, but retired from the race. He bounced back with back-to-back wins in Italy and Catalunya. He finished second at the Dutch round, narrowly losing out to Capirossi. He then won the next three races from the British to the Czech Grands Prix. Rossi finished second in Imola, but was off the podium in eighth place at Valencia. He finished the season with three more wins: one in Australia, one in South Africa, and one in Rio de Janeiro. After that, he finished third in Argentina despite starting in pole position. He clinched the title in Rio de Janeiro and finished the season with 309 points, his first 250cc world championship title and his second title overall.
500cc World Championship Honda (2000–2001) 2000 In 2000, Rossi was given a seat with Honda in what was then the highest class in World Championship motorcycle racing, the 500cc. Retired five-time 500cc World Champion Mick Doohan worked with Rossi as his personal mentor in his first year. Rossi started off his first year in the 500cc class with retirements in the first two rounds. After scoring consistent points, including third-place finishes at the Spanish, French, and Catalan rounds, he took his first victory at Donington Park in July.
More podium places followed in Germany, the Czech Republic, and Portugal. Rossi won the Rio round, but Kenny Roberts Jr. who clinched the 2000 title after finishing in sixth position, which gave him an unassailable lead in the championship. After his second 500cc win, Rossi went on to finish second in the Pacific race and third in the Australian races. 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. Three consecutive race wins in Japan, South Africa, and Spain were followed by wins at Catalunya, Britain, the Czech Republic, and Portugal. He had a disappointing result in the Valencian Community round where he finished in 11th place, but then scored 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, 106 points ahead of Biaggi, who had been Rossi's main rival during the season.
MotoGP World Championship Honda (2002–2003) 2002 Many riders experienced problems getting used to the new MotoGP bikes. Rossi started the year off strong and won the first race in wet conditions in Japan. He also took the pole position in the first five races. He scored victories from the Spanish to the German rounds. His only retirement of the season was from the Czech Republic round. He then had back-to-back wins in Portugal and Rio, two second-place finishes in the Pacific and Malaysia, another victory in Australia and a second-place finish in the final race in the Valencian Community.
Rossi went on to win eight of the first nine races of the season, eventually claiming 11 victories in total. He clinched his second title in the Rio de Janeiro race, his first in the inaugural class, and fourth title overall with four races remaining.
2003 After a strong 2002, Rossi continued to dominate in 2003 despite competition from emerging Spaniard Sete Gibernau. Rossi 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. Rossi finished second in the South African round before winning again in Spain. He won in Italy and came second again in Catalunya. He took two third-place finishes in the Dutch and British rounds, and another second place in Germany, losing to Gibernau by 0.060 seconds.
After Germany, Rossi won three more races in the Czech Republic, Portugal, and Rio de Janeiro. Rossi ended his season by scoring three consecutive poles and race wins in the Malaysian, Australian, and Valencian Community rounds. The Australian victory is considered by many to be one of Rossi's greatest career moments: despite being given a ten-second penalty, he was able to pull away from the rest of the field, finishing more than fifteen seconds and winning the race.
Rossi won the 2003 title in Malaysia, his third in the top class and fifth title overall, with two races remaining. He won the final race in the Valencian Community round, his final win for Honda.
Rossi parted ways with Honda at the end of the season. Mid-season rumours pointed towards a possible move to Ducati, but Rossi passed the offer up, partly because of Ducati's uncompetitiveness and partly because he didn't like their mindset. 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.
Yamaha (2004–2010) 2004 Rossi made the switch from Honda to Yamaha and signed a two-year contract with the team. Rossi took pole and won the South African race after a hard-fought battle with Max Biaggi, becoming the first rider to win consecutive races with different manufacturers. A 23-race podium streak ended with fourth places in Spain. and France, but Rossi responded with three consecutive victories in Italy, Catalunya, and the Netherlands.
Rossi retired in Rio de Janeiro and finished fourth in Germany but bounced back by winning the British round from pole. He then went on to finish second in the Czech Republic, first in Portugal, and second once again in Japan.