367 Facts About Valentino Rossi

Valentino Rossi is an Italian former professional motorcycle road racer and nine-time Grand Prix motorcycle racing World Champion.

Valentino Rossi holds the record of most premier class victories, with 89 victories to his name.

Valentino Rossi won premier class World Championships with both Honda and Yamaha.

Valentino Rossi is the only road racer to have competed in 400 or more Grands Prix, and rode with the number 46 for his entire career.

Valentino Rossi won MotoGP World Championships with the factory Honda Team in 2002 and 2003 and continued his run of back-to-back championships by winning the 2004 and 2005 titles after leaving Honda to join Yamaha.

Valentino Rossi lost the 2006 title with a crash in the final round at Valencia.

Valentino Rossi returned to Yamaha in 2013 and finished fourth in the standings followed by three successive runner-up positions in 2014,2015 and 2016.

Valentino Rossi was inducted into the MotoGP Hall of Fame as an official Legend by the FIM at the awards ceremony after the conclusion of the 2021 season.

Valentino Rossi owns the Racing Team VR46, which competes in both Moto2 and MotoGP as of 2022.

Son of former motorcycle racer Graziano Valentino Rossi, he began riding at a very young age.

Valentino Rossi continued to race karts and finished fifth at the national kart championships in Parma.

In 1993, Valentino Rossi was given his first opportunity to ride a 125cc motorcycle by former world champion Paolo Pileri, who became a team manager after retiring from competition.

In 1994, Valentino Rossi raced in the Italian 125 CC Championship with a prototype called Sandroni, using a Rotax engine.

In 1995, Valentino Rossi switched to Aprilia and won the Italian 125 CC Championship.

Valentino Rossi had some success in his first year, scoring consistent points and sometimes finishing just off the podium from his first race at Malaysia to Italy, but retired in both the French and Dutch rounds.

Valentino Rossi scored more points by finishing fifth at the German race but suffered another retirement at the British round.

At the 1996 Austrian Grand Prix, Valentino Rossi scored his first ever podium in the form of a third place after battling with Jorge Martinez.

Valentino Rossi finished his first season in ninth place with 111 points.

Valentino Rossi immediately started with a pole and race win at the 1997 Malaysian Grand Prix but retired at the next race in Japan.

Valentino Rossi finished second in Austria, just 0.004 seconds behind race winner Noboru Ueda, then scored a flurry of race victories from France to Britain, including three pole positions at the Dutch, Imola and German rounds.

Valentino Rossi scored a third place at the Czech round, and eventually picked up two more wins at the Catalan and Indonesian races.

Valentino Rossi won the 1997 125cc title, winning 11 of the 15 races with 321 points.

Valentino Rossi's year started off poorly, retiring in the first two rounds; Japan and Malaysia.

Valentino Rossi came back from this by scoring three consecutive second places in Spain, Italy and France, but retired once more at the Madrid round.

Valentino Rossi scored his first victory at the 1998 Dutch TT, winning with more than 19 seconds from second-place Jurgen Fuchs.

Valentino Rossi had to retire at the British grand prix but bounced back by scoring a podium place in Germany, finishing third.

Valentino Rossi retired once more 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 behind 1998 250cc champion Loris Capirossi.

Valentino Rossi started the season off with a pole position in Malaysia on Saturday but finished fifth on race day.

Valentino Rossi would pick up further points in Japan and went on to win his first race of the season at the third round in Spain.

Valentino Rossi scored his second pole position of the season in France, but suffered a retirement on Sunday.

Valentino Rossi bounced back with back-to-back wins in Italy and Catalunya and finished second at the Dutch round, narrowly losing out on the race victory with Capirossi.

Valentino Rossi won three more races from Britain to the Czech Republic, picking up yet another pole position in Germany.

Valentino Rossi finished second in Imola and off the podium in eighth place at the Valencian Community round.

Valentino Rossi finished the season strong with three more race wins: one in Australia, where he fought hard with Olivier Jacque, one in South Africa and one in Rio de Janeiro.

Valentino Rossi 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.

Valentino Rossi started off his first year in the 500cc class with two retirements in the first two rounds: he crashed out of the South African and Malaysian rounds.

Valentino Rossi scored points at the third round in Japan and picked up two third-place finishes in Spain and France.

Valentino Rossi picked up additional points in Italy and another third-place podium finish at the Catalan round.

Valentino Rossi picked up additional points by finishing in sixth position at the 2000 Dutch TT.

Valentino Rossi retired from the Valencian Community round after crashing out of the race.

Valentino Rossi finished second in his rookie season in the 500cc class with 209 points.

Valentino Rossi dominated his second season in the 500cc class, scoring 11 wins and only finishing off the podium three times.

Valentino Rossi started the year off with a victory in Japan after battling with Max Biaggi.

Valentino Rossi then achieved back-to-back poles and race wins at the South African and Spanish rounds.

Valentino Rossi finished the French race in third place but crashed out of the Italian round whilst leading the wet race after taking another pole on Saturday.

Valentino Rossi bounced back by taking pole position and winning the following race in Catalunya, despite making a poor start that dropped him to 15th place at the end of the first lap.

Valentino Rossi scored a second place after narrowly losing out on the race victory with Biaggi at the Dutch round.

Valentino Rossi followed this up with another win: this time the British GP.

Valentino Rossi finished a disappointing seventh in Germany but then took back-to-back wins in the Czech Republic and Portugal.

Valentino Rossi had another disappointing result at the Valencian Community round when he finished in 11th place, but then scored a string of race wins from the Pacific to the Rio rounds.

Valentino Rossi won his first 500cc title with 325 points and third title overall, 106 points ahead of Biaggi, who became Valentino Rossi's main rival during the season.

Valentino 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.

Valentino Rossi took the pole position in the first five races.

Valentino Rossi finished second in South Africa, where his teammate Tohru Ukawa took his first and only victory in the MotoGP class.

Valentino Rossi then scored victories from the Spanish to the German rounds, including two pole positions at the Dutch and British GPs.

Valentino Rossi registered his only retirement of the season at the Czech Republic round before scoring back-to-back wins in Portugal and Rio, two second-place finishes at the Pacific and Malaysia, another victory in Australia and a second-place finish at the final race at the Valencian Community.

Valentino Rossi went on to win eight of the first nine races of the season, eventually claiming 11 victories in total.

Valentino Rossi clinched his second title at the Rio de Janeiro race, his first in the inaugural class, and fourth title overall with four races remaining.

Valentino 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 who crashed at the 130R and hit the barrier at high speed in the ensuing Casio Triangle.

Valentino Rossi finished second at the South African round before winning again in Spain, despite falling back to ninth place on the opening lap.

Valentino Rossi scored three pole positions in the next three races and finished second in France after battling with Gibernau, who overtook him on the last lap.

Valentino Rossi won in Italy and came second again in Catalunya.

Valentino Rossi 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.

Valentino Rossi ended his season in style by scoring three consecutive poles and race wins at the Malaysian, Australian and Valencian Community rounds.

Valentino Rossi won the 2003 title in Malaysia, his third in the top class and fifth title overall, with two races remaining.

Valentino Rossi won the final race at the Valencian Community round with a special livery, this race marking his final win for Honda.

Ducati did indeed try to seduce Valentino Rossi into riding their MotoGP bike, the Desmosedici, but for numerous reasons Valentino Rossi passed the offer up.

Ultimately, Valentino 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.

Valentino Rossi made the switch from Honda to Yamaha and signed a two-year contract with the team.

Valentino Rossi took the pole on Saturday and won the South African race after a hard-fought battle with Max Biaggi, becoming the first ever rider to win consecutive races with different manufacturers, having won the final race of the previous season on his Honda bike.

Valentino Rossi took another pole in Spain but his fourth-place finish on Sunday saw the end of a 23-race podium streak.

Valentino Rossi had to miss out on the podium in France but responded with three consecutive victories in Italy, Catalunya and the Netherlands, a race that he won from pole after a hard-fought battle with Gibernau.

Valentino Rossi then went on to finish second in the Czech Republic, first in Portugal and second in Japan.

At the inaugural Qatar round, controversy arose when Valentino Rossi's team was penalised by starting at the back of the grid for grid cleaning.

Gibernau won the race, whilst Valentino Rossi crashed out of the race when he was in sixth position.

Valentino Rossi finished first with 304 points to Gibernau's 257, with Max Biaggi third with 217 points.

Valentino Rossi 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.

Valentino Rossi immediately began the season by capturing pole and winning the first round in Spain in a controversial manner, colliding with the Gresini Honda of Sete Gibernau on the last lap.

Valentino Rossi scored a second-place finish in Portugal but then went on to take five consecutive victories from the Chinese to the Dutch rounds, including three pole positions in France, Italy and Assen.

At the first United States round since 1994, Valentino Rossi struggled and finish in third place whilst local hero Nicky Hayden won the race.

Valentino Rossi bounced back by picking up three more wins, starting from a pole-victory in a rainy Great Britain and two regular victories in Germany, holding off Gibernau on the last lap, and the Czech Republic.

Valentino Rossi finished the season with a second and third-place finish at the inaugural Turkish and the Valencian Community rounds.

Valentino Rossi finished the season in first place with a total of 367 points, 147 points ahead of second-place finisher Marco Melandri and captured his fourth MotoGP, fifth top class and seventh overall championship in Sepang with four races remaining.

Valentino Rossi won 11 races including wins in three rain-affected races at Shanghai, Le Mans and Donington.

The 2006 season started off with Valentino Rossi being the favourite to win the title.

However, at the first round in Spain, Valentino Rossi was unlucky when Toni Elias misjudged his braking point into a corner and hit the rear wheel of the Italian, who crashed into the gravel as a result.

Valentino Rossi rejoined the race but only managed to finish 14th.

Valentino Rossi was leading comfortably in first place with a gap of over three seconds until his Yamaha had a mechanical problem on lap 21, forcing Rossi to retire for the second consecutive race.

Valentino Rossi would leave Le Mans eighth in the standings with a 43-points deficit to Nicky Hayden.

Hayden held the points lead throughout most of the season, but by now Valentino Rossi was slowly working his way up the points ladder.

Valentino Rossi eventually got back in front, but Elias shot past him at the final corner and won the race with a minuscule 0.002 second advantage over Valentino Rossi.

At the final race of the season, the Valencian Community round, Valentino Rossi needed to finish in second place or higher to win the title.

Valentino Rossi took the second consecutive pole position on Saturday whilst Hayden could only qualify fifth.

However, Valentino Rossi got a poor start on Sunday when the red lights went out, dropping him back in seventh place.

Valentino Rossi managed to get going again, but it would be to no avail: Rossi only managed to finish 13th, finishing the season on 247 points and losing the title to Nicky Hayden by just five points.

Valentino Rossi then won the second race in Spain to bounce back.

In Turkey, Valentino Rossi clinched another pole on Saturday but eventually finished way down in tenth position after running wide on the fast turn eleven when he pushed hard to break away on the opening lap.

Valentino Rossi fought his way back to second, overtaking Loris Capirossi on lap nine, but lost positions quickly after the Michelin tyres started to fade and he suffered from a mysterious lack of speed, which allowed Toni Elias, Capirossi, John Hopkins, Marco Melandri and Alex Barros to overtake him within three laps.

Valentino Rossi, finding himself on the backfoot in the championship, responded in China by setting another pole position on Saturday and finishing in second place after battling hard with Stoner.

Valentino Rossi initially started well and even overtook Stoner in the early part of the race to make a break but when the rain intensified, Valentino Rossi and his YZR-M1 struggled and were overtaken by Stoner, Randy de Puniet, Sylvain Guintoli and later Nicky Hayden, Dani Pedrosa and Alex Hofmann.

Valentino Rossi eventually finished in sixth whilst Stoner crossed the line in third, extending his championship lead by 21 points.

In Great Britain, Valentino Rossi finished just outside of the podium in fourth but bounced back at the Dutch round in great fashion by winning the race from eleventh on the grid.

Valentino Rossi overtook many riders and eventually did the same to Stoner with four laps to go, building up a small gap he never gave away when crossing the line.

Valentino Rossi had made a poor start, dropping him from sixth to ninth on lap one, but was quick to regain two positions before struggling to pass Randy de Puniet for sixth position.

When Valentino Rossi tried to squeeze his bike next to the Kawasaki of de Puniet, he lost the front of his M1 at low speed through a long right-hander and slid into the gravel.

Valentino Rossi then picked up more points by finishing in fourth and seventh place at the United States and Czech Republic, but by then Stoner had built up a 60-point gap over Valentino Rossi when they left round 12.

Valentino Rossi retired at the new San Marino venue whilst Stoner took his eighth win of the season, extending his championship lead from 60 to 85 points.

Valentino Rossi worked his way up from fifth to third on the opening lap, overtaking Stoner on lap nine after Pedrosa did the same two laps earlier.

Valentino Rossi then overtook Pedrosa on lap ten and a fight commenced where Pedrosa re-overtook Rossi on lap 16, only taking the first spot back from the Spaniard with four laps left after he ran wide.

Valentino Rossi made a similar error and Pedrosa retook the lead just half a lap later.

Pedrosa was still narrowly ahead but Valentino Rossi was better on the brakes and plunged down the inside of the first corner in turn one.

Valentino Rossi crossed the line 0.175 seconds ahead of Pedrosa to win his fourth race of the season.

At the Japanese round, Valentino Rossi suffered from braking problems on his second bike after all riders were forced to swap bikes due to the drying track, finishing in 13th position.

Valentino Rossi went on to take one last podium in Australia, finishing in third place, then picked up points in fifth position at the Malaysian round.

At the last race of the season, the Valencian Community race, Valentino Rossi started way back in 17th due to a fracture of three bones in his right hand after he fell during qualifying.

Valentino Rossi took 16th on lap seven and passed Shinya Nakano for 15th and thus the final point, but was forced to retire on lap 18 after his YZR-M1 suffered a technical problem, this marking his third DNF of the season.

Pedrosa's win in the last race at Valencia combined with Valentino Rossi's retirement meant that he beat Valentino Rossi by a single point.

Valentino Rossi started the year with a fifth place in Qatar whilst Stoner won the race, prompting some to already suggest that it would be more of the same like last year.

However, Valentino Rossi fought back in Spain by finishing second whilst Stoner could only manage eleventh place.

Valentino Rossi finished third at the Portuguese round with his teammate Jorge Lorenzo winning after a late charge from Pedrosa was not enough to retake the lead.

Valentino Rossi remounted the bike and got going again but could only finish eleventh, handing the lead of the championship to Pedrosa by four points.

Valentino Rossi then took a multitude of race wins from the United States, where Valentino Rossi took the win after a hard battle and a pass down the "Corkscrew" corner over Stoner, who crashed a few laps later but continued and took second place, to Japan, including a pole-victory at a rain-shortened race in Indianapolis.

Valentino Rossi started off poor, dropping from fourth to fifth on the grid but quickly made up ground by overtaking Jorge Lorenzo and Nicky Hayden on lap two before he hunted down his title rivals.

When Stoner made the pass on Pedrosa on lap six, Valentino Rossi did the same and went after Stoner until he made the race winning move on lap 14 under braking.

Valentino Rossi then pulled away from the Ducati rider to cross the line in first position and clinch his fifth MotoGP, sixth top class and eighth overall championship in Japan with three races remaining.

Valentino Rossi finished first in the championship with 373 points, 93 points ahead of second place Casey Stoner.

Valentino Rossi took two consecutive second places: a regular podium in Qatar and a pole-podium in Japan, the race won by Valentino Rossi's teammate Jorge Lorenzo.

Valentino Rossi started fourth, but overtook teammate Lorenzo for third on lap two, then made a second pass stick for second position on lap seven.

Race leader Pedrosa was ahead with 1.4 seconds ahead of him by then, but Valentino Rossi stormed to the rear wheel of the Honda rider with eleven laps to go.

Valentino Rossi made the victory pass at the Nieto corner to take a lead of 2.7 seconds when crossing the line, taking the championship lead over from Stoner by eleven points in the process.

Things started to look better when Valentino Rossi registered a third position finish in Italy, but lost his sequence of seven consecutive victories at the venue.

At the United States GP, Valentino Rossi finished a close second behind surprise race winner Dani Pedrosa.

Valentino Rossi then went on to score three more pole positions: a pole-win at the German round, fighting tooth and nail once more with his teammate Jorge Lorenzo with five laps to go.

At the next race in Great Britain, Valentino Rossi started from pole but was demoted to third on the first lap.

However, it was not meant to be as Valentino Rossi spun out of the lead when the rear of his M1 span-out through the Fogarty Esses on lap 20, demoting him to eleventh and leaving Dovizioso almost ten seconds clear of de Puniet.

Valentino Rossi climbed up to fifth on the last lap, overtaking home hero James Toseland at the final turn, but the race victory went to the Honda of Andrea Dovizioso for the first time.

At the Czech Republic round, Valentino Rossi took a commanding victory, crossing the line more than 11 seconds ahead of second place Pedrosa.

At the next race in San Marino, Valentino Rossi responded by taking his sixth pole position of the year on Saturday and winning the race at his "home venue" ahead of Lorenzo on Sunday, extending his lead to 30 points.

At the Australian round, Valentino Rossi finished a close second to home hero Casey Stoner who won the race.

At the penultimate round in Malaysia, Valentino Rossi scored another pole position on Saturday and a podium in the form of third place at the wet track in Sepang on race day, behind Stoner and Pedrosa.

Valentino Rossi finished first in the championship with 306 points, 72 points ahead of second-place Jorge Lorenzo.

Six wins was the lowest number of wins Valentino Rossi has had in a championship winning season; the previous minima were nine in 1999 in the 250cc class and 2003,2004 and 2008 in MotoGP.

Valentino Rossi failed to win at Mugello for the first time since 2001.

On 8 June 2009, Valentino Rossi rode a Yamaha around the famous Snaefell Mountain Course in an exhibition lap at the 2009 Isle of Man TT alongside Agostini, in what was called 'The Lap of the Gods'.

Valentino Rossi performed the garlanding ceremony for the Superbike podium, bestowing the podium of John McGuinness, Steve Plater and Guy Martin.

The injury Valentino Rossi had was not taken seriously initially and was expected to cure in a few weeks, but that did not turn out as expected and the ligament tear in his shoulder failed to heal sufficiently.

Valentino Rossi suffered a displaced compound fracture of his right tibia.

Ahead of the British Grand Prix, Suzi Perry reported in her Daily Telegraph column that Valentino Rossi was planning on making a comeback at Brno.

Valentino Rossi completed 26 laps during two runs, with a best lap time that was around two seconds off the pace of recent World Superbike times at the circuit.

Valentino Rossi returned two rounds earlier than predicted, and only 41 days after his accident.

At round 9 of the season, held in the United States, Valentino Rossi took his first podium since his broken leg seven weeks ago at Mugello, overtaking the Honda of Andrea Dovizioso in the process.

At the next two rounds, in the Czech Republic and Indianapolis, Valentino Rossi scored lackluster results by finishing fifth and fourth.

At his "home race" in San Marino, Valentino Rossi scored another third place behind race-winner Pedrosa and second-place Lorenzo.

At the new venue in Aragon, Valentino Rossi was again off the pace and finished in sixth position.

Valentino Rossi battled with teammate Lorenzo for the bottom step of the podium during the race, which was won by Casey Stoner, but by now had a 69-point lead in the championship over second place Dani Pedrosa.

In Malaysia, Valentino Rossi took a stunning victory by winning the race from eleventh position, battling with the Honda of Dovizioso for the win multiple times.

Valentino Rossi had qualified sixth, but lost multiple positions in the first set of corners after a poor getaway.

Valentino Rossi overtook multiple riders, including Lorenzo, to fight for the lead with Dovizioso on a few occasions, but held on to finish ahead of him with just 0.224 seconds.

Valentino Rossi finished third in the championship with 233 points, 150 points behind champion Jorge Lorenzo and 12 points behind runner-up Dani Pedrosa.

Valentino Rossi collected ten podiums throughout the season, including five consecutive podiums in the season's final run.

On 15 August 2010, after the Brno race, Valentino Rossi confirmed he was going to ride for the Ducati team, signing a two-year deal starting in 2011 and joining former Honda racing teammate Nicky Hayden.

Valentino Rossi tested the Desmosedici for the first time in Valencia on 9 November 2010, making this his first appearance since 1999 on an Italian motorcycle.

Valentino Rossi underwent surgery on his shoulder which he injured during the 2010 season in order to be ready for pre-season testing in Malaysia.

Valentino Rossi resumed and eventually finished fifth but Stoner retired from the race.

Valentino Rossi battled hard with the Yamaha of Jorge Lorenzo and the Honda of Andrea Dovizioso, overtaking both for fifth place, when Dani Pedrosa and Marco Simoncelli at the front collided.

Valentino Rossi then finished the next four races inside the top six; fifth at Catalunya, sixth in Great Britain, fourth at the Dutch round and sixth again in Italy.

At round nine in Germany, Valentino Rossi disappointingly finished in ninth place.

On lap nine, Valentino Rossi ran last and considered retiring, but climbed his way back up to tenth place in the end.

Poor results continued at his "home grand prix" in San Marino and Aragon when Valentino Rossi only managed to finish seventh and tenth, battling with the Tech 3 Yamaha of Cal Crutchlow before he got the better of Valentino Rossi to cross the line 0.180 seconds ahead of him.

Valentino Rossi collided with Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies and left Rossi with a blow to his finger.

At the Valencian Community race, Valentino Rossi retired at the first corner after Alvaro Bautista fell from his bike and took down Valentino Rossi, teammate Hayden and Randy de Puniet in the process.

Valentino Rossi finished seventh in the championship with 139 points, 211 points behind champion Casey Stoner.

Valentino Rossi finished a season winless for the first time in his Grand Prix career.

Valentino Rossi started poorly in Qatar, starting from twelfth and only mustered tenth at the line.

Valentino Rossi started from seventh on the grid but moved to fourth on the opening lap and overtook the fading Pedrosa for third on lap three.

Valentino Rossi then was caught by the Tech 3 Yamaha's of Cal Crutchlow and Andrea Dovizioso who battled with him over the bottom step of the podium from laps 4 to 18 until Crutchlow lost the front end of his M1 at the first corner.

Valentino Rossi remounted and continued the race as did Dovizioso, who suffered the same fate with four laps to go.

Valentino Rossi finished seventh in Catalunya while in Great Britain, Rossi was fastest in the first free-practice session but finished the race in ninth.

Valentino Rossi was going to come home in eighth position when he fell at the corkscrew corner whilst trying to brake.

Valentino Rossi was unhappy with the bike setup for the race, preventing him from riding quick enough all weekend.

Valentino Rossi finished seventh at the Indianapolis and Czech Republic rounds.

Valentino Rossi equalled his best Ducati result in Le Mans by finishing second for the second consecutive time this season in San Marino.

Valentino Rossi ended his final year with Ducati with lackluster performances.

Valentino Rossi finished sixth in the championship with 163 points, 187 points behind champion Jorge Lorenzo.

On 10 August, it was confirmed that Valentino Rossi was going to leave the factory Ducati team at the end of the 2012 season.

Later that day, it was announced that Valentino Rossi were to rejoin the Yamaha factory team until the end of the 2014 season, resuming his partnership with Jorge Lorenzo.

Valentino Rossi clocked 0.442 seconds off from pace-setter Dani Pedrosa and just 0.113 seconds off teammate Jorge Lorenzo.

Valentino Rossi quickly fought himself back to fourth on the opening lap, but ran wide when he tried to overtake Ducati replacement rider Andrea Dovizioso, dropping him back to seventh place.

Valentino Rossi passed both Crutchlow and Pedrosa, but Marquez' aggressive riding style and determination led to a battle between the two.

At the next two races at the Americas and Spain, Valentino Rossi finished in sixth and fourth position.

Valentino Rossi started the race from eighth on the grid and moved up to third to grab another podium but lost the position to Cal Crutchlow and then slid out of contention with ten laps to go.

Valentino Rossi continued to finish in twelfth position, albeit on a damaged bike and hampered by a misting visor.

At round five in Italy, Valentino Rossi registered his only retirement of the year.

Valentino Rossi was involved with a first-lap collision with the Gresini Honda of Alvaro Bautista at the left-right chicane that forms turns two and three.

In Catalunya, Valentino Rossi finished just off the podium for the second consecutive time by finishing fourth after starting from seventh on the grid.

Valentino Rossi started from fourth on the grid but overtook the Honda of Dani Pedrosa for the lead on lap six, a lead he held to the line despite a late charge by the other Honda of Marquez, who crossed the line 2.170 seconds behind the Italian.

From Indianapolis to San Marino, Valentino Rossi scored four consecutive fourth places before scoring yet another third-place podium at Aragon after a three-way battle for the spot with Alvaro Bautista, Stefan Bradl and Cal Crutchlow.

Valentino Rossi again finished just off the podium at the Malaysian round, finishing fourth but scored a final podium in the form of third place at the Australian round, once more battling Crutchlow and Bautista.

Valentino Rossi scored six podiums, including one win at Assen.

Valentino Rossi started the season well with a second-place finish in Qatar, storming from tenth on the grid to battle with the Honda of Marquez for the win, only to miss out on the victory on the last lap with 0.259 seconds at the line.

At the next two races, the 2014 Motorcycle Grand Prix of the Americas and the new venue in Argentina, Valentino Rossi only scored points by finishing in eighth and fourth.

On 1 June 2014, Valentino Rossi appeared in his 300th Grand Prix race at the Italian round, where he finished in third.

At his "home race" in San Marino, Valentino Rossi won his first race since the 2013 Dutch TT round.

Valentino Rossi started third on the grid before moving up and battling with Marquez for the lead.

On lap 10, Marquez fell, which allowed Valentino Rossi to pull a gap and finish first at the line, ahead of teammate Jorge Lorenzo.

Valentino Rossi lost consciousness briefly after the crash and was transferred to a hospital in Alcaniz for a precautionary CT scan.

Valentino Rossi benefitted from an accident of Marc Marquez who had been leading the race.

Marquez passed both Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi, pulling a gap and finishing 2.445 seconds ahead of the Italian.

Valentino Rossi took his first pole position since the 2010 French Grand Prix at the Valencian Community race, his 60th pole position in Grand Prix racing.

Valentino Rossi finished in second place behind Marquez in the race.

Valentino Rossi finished second in the championship with 295 points, 67 points behind champion Marc Marquez.

At the second race at the Americas, Valentino Rossi scored his first third-place podium.

Valentino Rossi moved up into second place but couldn't match the pace of polesitter and eventual winner Marc Marquez and lost second position to Dovizioso in the late stages of the race.

In Catalunya, Valentino Rossi finished second after a late charge on teammate and race winner Jorge Lorenzo to maintain the championship lead over his teammate by one point.

Valentino Rossi extended his championship lead to ten points over Lorenzo, who finished third.

Valentino Rossi further extended his championship lead in Germany with third and continued his podium streak with third-place finishes at Indianapolis and the Czech Republic.

The podium streak of 16 races ended with a fifth-place finish in San Marino, but Valentino Rossi extended his championship lead to 23 points after Lorenzo crashed out.

Lorenzo won the Aragon round with Valentino Rossi finishing in third to cut the gap to fourteen points with four races remaining.

Valentino Rossi accused Marquez of deliberately trying to harm his championship, something Marquez repeatedly denied.

Valentino Rossi made it up to fourth in the race but with Lorenzo winning it, he took the championship by only five points.

However, during the 2018 Argentine Grand Prix, controversies reared up again following some disputed maneuvers carried out by Marc Marquez before and during the race, where he tried a very risky overtake on Valentino Rossi that resulted in a crash for the latter.

Yamaha announced that Valentino Rossi will ride a 2016 YZR-M1 which includes ECU Michelin tyres new to MotoGP and all riders.

Valentino Rossi began the 2016 season with fourth place in Qatar, albeit just two seconds from victory.

Valentino Rossi had fought with Marquez for the lead in the first half of the race but fell back to fourth on his second bike before the last lap incident between the Ducatis.

At the third round in the Americas, Valentino Rossi suffered his first DNF since the 2014 Aragon Grand Prix, bringing an end to a run of 24 consecutive top-five finishes after crashing at the start of the third lap at turn 2 when he lost the front of his M1 mid-corner.

The race marked the first time in his MotoGP career that Valentino Rossi led every lap of a race from pole position.

At the French round, Valentino Rossi started a lowly seventh on the grid but recovered in the race, overtaking both Marquez and Dovizioso in the process to finish second with the fastest lap of the race, the race being won by Yamaha teammate Lorenzo.

Valentino Rossi suffered an engine failure on his home race in Italy when battling Lorenzo for the lead after starting from pole position.

Valentino Rossi bounced back in Catalunya by winning from seventh on the first lap after a late-race battle with Marquez.

Valentino Rossi dedicated the victory to the family of former Moto2 rider Luis Salom, who had been killed following a crash during Friday practice.

Valentino Rossi again led for a period in Aragon before eventually finishing third.

Valentino Rossi started in fifteenth spot at the Australian race after a rain affected qualifying but recovered to finish second in the race.

Valentino Rossi secured second place once more in wet conditions in Malaysia behind Andrea Dovizioso having again led for periods of the race, the result securing second place in the championship for the third year in a row.

Valentino Rossi finished second in the championship with 249 points, 49 points behind champion Marc Marquez.

Valentino Rossi suffered a difficult winter testing period for the 2017 season, often lagging behind new teammate Maverick Vinales after suffering with a new, softer construction Michelin front tyre.

Valentino Rossi continued his improvement by taking back-to-back second place podiums in Argentina after a battle with Cal Crutchlow for second place and the Americas to take the lead of the championship after three races by six points.

At the next race in France, Valentino Rossi crashed out of the race on the last lap while battling with teammate Vinales for the win.

At his home race in Italy, Valentino Rossi finished just off the podium in fourth, blaming his lack of energy due to his motocross training crash a week earlier which prevented him from scoring said podium.

Tests of a new chassis after the Catalan race were positive and saw Valentino Rossi take his first and only win of the season at the Dutch round after a late-race battle with the Pramac Ducati of Danilo Petrucci, who ran slick tyres on a damp track, the older Italian prevailing by just 0.063 seconds.

Valentino Rossi returned on the podium in Great Britain, leading for much of the race but ultimately having to concede the win to Dovizioso and second to Vinales with three laps to go.

Valentino Rossi suffered these injuries on the same leg that he previously broke in his high-speed crash at Mugello in 2010 and put him out of contention, requiring surgery and missing his "home race" in San Marino.

At the Australian GP, Valentino Rossi scored his final podium of the season by finishing in second place, fighting hard with Tech 3 Yamaha rider Johann Zarco and finishing ahead of teammate Vinales by just 0.016 seconds.

Valentino Rossi finished the season with disappointing results at the Malaysian and Valencian Community rounds, only being able to score seventh and fifth.

At the first round in Qatar, Valentino Rossi started off well by getting a first podium of the season in the form of third place.

Valentino Rossi had a good start from eighth on the grid to move up to fourth on the opening lap, overtook the Honda of Dani Pedrosa on the second lap and made his move on the other Honda of Marc Marquez with 17 laps to go.

Valentino Rossi eventually got going again, but failed to score any points afterwards.

At the following rounds at the Americas and Spain, Valentino Rossi finished off the podium twice in fourth and fifth place, but he bounced back by scoring three consecutive third-place podiums at the French, Italian and Catalan rounds.

Valentino Rossi only finished fifth at the Dutch round but managed to score his first and only second place of the season in Germany, 2.196 seconds behind winner Marquez, claiming he finished so high on a track that usually doesn't suit the Yamaha's because he "studied everything" from the then-absent Jonas Folger.

Valentino Rossi finished the San Marino race in seventh, the Aragon race in eighth, the Thai and Japanese races in fourth and the Australian race in sixth.

Valentino Rossi took the lead going into the first corner from P2 after poleman Zarco made a poor start and built up a gap, but Marquez stormed up through the field and the gap between them was 1.1 seconds with ten laps to go.

Valentino Rossi pushed hard to keep the gap above 1 second but Marquez dipped below to 0.7 seconds with five laps to go.

Marquez won the race, with Valentino Rossi remounting and finishing nineteenth, outside the points.

At the Valencian Community round, Valentino Rossi moved up the order from sixteenth on the grid in the wet conditions, being helped by some of the front runners crashing out in the ever-worsening conditions.

Valentino Rossi finished third in the championship with 198 points, 123 points behind champion Marc Marquez.

At the opening round in Qatar, Valentino Rossi lined up fourteenth on the grid on Saturday but stormed through the field to finish in fifth at the line, +0.600 seconds behind race winner Andrea Dovizioso.

At the third round in the Americas, Valentino Rossi again finished second after Marc Marquez crashed out of the race and Valentino Rossi was overtaken by the Suzuki of Alex Rins with four laps to go.

Valentino Rossi recovered and tried to regain the lost ground but eventually slid off again at the high-speed Arrabiata 2 corner to register his first DNF since the 2017 Japanese race.

Valentino Rossi was forced to go wide and initially survived a minor hit of Lorenzo's stricken bike, only to hit it again and fall onto the tarmac this time.

The bike was damaged as a result and Valentino Rossi was unable to continue.

At the German and Czech rounds, Valentino Rossi managed to score an eighth and sixth place.

Valentino Rossi then scored three consecutive fourth places in Austria, which was the scene of the dramatic last-lap battle between Dovizioso and Marquez, Great Britain and his home race in San Marino.

Valentino Rossi crashed out of a lowly eleventh place at Turn 1 with four laps to go.

Valentino Rossi finished seventh in the championship with 174 points, 246 points behind champion Marc Marquez.

In October 2019, Valentino Rossi announced he would be changing his crew chief.

The reason stated for this change was because of the poor results Valentino Rossi obtained during the 2019 season.

However, because of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent delay of the start of the season, Valentino Rossi did not get the five or six races he hoped for.

Valentino Rossi has said he wants to continue racing in 2021, but that both he and SIC team boss Razlan Razali had doubts after the poor weekend in Spain.

Valentino Rossi commented that the updated Michelin tyres suit the bike, as well as his riding style, a lot more compared to last year.

At this race, Valentino Rossi ran in tenth position before retiring with technical problems.

In September 2020, after six months of speculation, Valentino Rossi confirmed that he would be joining Petronas Yamaha SRT for the 2021 season alongside his VR46 Academy protege Franco Morbidelli.

On 13 January 2022, it was announced that Valentino Rossi would be racing for Team WRT in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup in 2022, driving an Audi R8 LMS.

In January 2022, Team WRT announced that Valentino Rossi would join its driver line-up in the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS for the 2022 season.

Valentino Rossi started his professional career on four wheels with the Belgian squad, which is the reigning champion team in the Fanatec GTWCE Powered by AWS.

Valentino Rossi has been paired with Audi factory drivers Nico Muller and Frederic Vervisch for his first full-time foray in sportscar racing, the former being an endurance co-driver for the team.

Valentino Rossi himself confirmed that he will continue to race in 2023 with WRT.

Valentino Rossi continued his sportscar career by staying at WRT which now uses a BMW in its pursuit of Le Mans 24 Hours.

Valentino Rossi often found himself battling on the track with Capirossi and Biaggi, dubbing them "the three musketeers" by the Italian press.

Valentino Rossi claimed that the incident happened because Biaggi bumped into his manager as both riders prepared to go up to the podium with third-place finisher Loris Capirossi.

Some would consider the 2004 South African round another key point in the rivalry due to the switch Valentino Rossi made from the Factory Honda to the Factory Yamaha team, with many believing that Biaggi would have the upper hand for the season due to the advantage the Honda had over its competitors at the time.

Valentino Rossi accused Gibernau in 2015 that he was "playing a dirty game".

Since then the two have not spoken and Valentino Rossi seemed to use the incident to apply psychological pressure on Gibernau.

Rumours of Valentino Rossi having sworn that after the Qatar race, which Gibernau won while Valentino Rossi crashed out after rising to 6th position, he would do everything to make sure that Gibernau never stood on the highest step of the podium again.

Valentino Rossi started from pole position but Gibernau overtook him on the first lap.

Stoner's and Valentino Rossi's rivalry came to a dramatic climax at the 2008 United States GP.

The move caused Valentino Rossi to run into the dirt and broken pavement on the inside of the right turn, and his rejoining the track came close to causing a collision between the two riders.

Stoner picked up his bike to finish second, while Valentino Rossi took the win.

When Valentino Rossi wanted to shake Stoner's hand in the parc ferme, he angrily refused.

At the press conference, Stoner claimed that some of Valentino Rossi's moves were considered "aggressive" but Valentino Rossi called it "just racing".

When Valentino Rossi caught Stoner, he thought of his mistake in Jerez last year and was more cautious because of it.

Valentino Rossi tried to overtake him in the usual spots but failed, with many assuming Lorenzo was going to win the race.

However, Valentino Rossi managed to pass him going into the final corner, where many assumed overtaking was impossible, to take an unlikely victory.

In 2010, Lorenzo finally emerged victorious in the championship battle after Valentino Rossi first injured his shoulder at a motocross accident two weeks before the 2010 Spanish race and then suffered a displaced compound fracture of his right tibia during a free practice fall at the 2010 Italian round, which caused him to miss four races.

The most dramatic race of the season came at Motegi when Valentino Rossi fought hard with Lorenzo on the final laps of the race for third place, colliding with each other on more than one occasion.

Valentino Rossi was on course to win his tenth overall title but was narrowly ahead of his teammate Lorenzo, who had closed the gap after the summer break.

Valentino Rossi only won 1 race since then and Lorenzo 3 all coming in 2018 with Ducati after initially struggling with his new team.

In more recent times, Valentino Rossi has been involved in an, at times, heated rivalry with Spanish rider Marc Marquez.

Marquez moved up to the MotoGP category in 2013 and initially the two had a good relationship, with Marquez stating that Valentino Rossi had been his childhood idol and that it was a pleasure to battle with him.

Marquez started from pole and created a gap at the opening stages of the race, but Valentino Rossi closed him down and a battle commenced.

At turn 5, Marquez made contact with Valentino Rossi, which resulted in Marquez's bike hitting Valentino Rossi's rear tyre, causing him to fall.

Marquez could not rejoin, and as a result, Valentino Rossi took his second win of the season.

Tempers reached boiling point in the race, where Marquez ran wide early on, allowing Lorenzo through for second and then had a heated battle with Valentino Rossi which lasted for several laps.

Post-race, Valentino Rossi was penalised by three championship points and by starting from the back of the grid for the championship decider in Valencia.

In that race, Valentino Rossi rode from the back to fourth, but Lorenzo took victory with Marquez second to claim the title by 5 points.

Marquez was accused by fans to have deliberately defended Lorenzo for the whole race against his own teammate Dani Pedrosa and Valentino Rossi called this championship a "Spanish stitch-up".

Whilst riding back through the field in the late stages, he caught Valentino Rossi who was running in fifth place.

Valentino Rossi attempted to overtake into the final corner, but hit a damp patch and collided with Rossi, pushing him off the track and causing him to fall.

Later, Valentino Rossi stated that Marquez "destroyed our sport" with his aggressive riding.

Valentino Rossi said, "Marquez needs to get away from me and not look me in the face anymore".

Valentino Rossi saw the race when he was only 14 years old and became a fan of him, which led to him wanting to become a grand prix motorcycle racing rider in the future.

Since Valentino Rossi started to dominate in the 500cc, later known as MotoGP, "The Doctor" has become the nickname of choice for Valentino Rossi.

Two theories prevail as to why Valentino Rossi uses this name.

One is that Valentino Rossi adopted the nickname upon having earned a degree, which in Italy entitles one to use the title "Doctor".

Valentino Rossi has always raced with the number 46 in his motorcycle grand prix career, the number his father had raced with in the first of his three grand prix career wins in 1979, in Yugoslavia, on a 250c Morbidelli.

However, in a homage to Britain's Barry Sheene, who was the first rider of the modern era to keep the same number, Valentino Rossi has stayed with the now-famous No 46 throughout his career, though as the world champion he has worn the No 1 on the shoulder of his racing leathers.

Apart from MotoGP, the motorcycle racing event that Valentino Rossi has participated is the FIM Endurance World Championship.

Valentino Rossi took part in the event in 2000, teaming up with Colin Edwards and riding a Honda.

Valentino Rossi became the first Italian rider in history to win the race.

Valentino Rossi tested the Ferrari Formula One car in 2006 on 31 January 1 February, and 2 February at Valencia.

Valentino Rossi lapped faster than seasoned drivers Red Bull Racing's Mark Webber and David Coulthard and Toyota F1's Jarno Trulli.

Schumacher hailed Valentino Rossi as having immense talent and said he would be perfectly capable of moving to Formula One and being competitive immediately.

In May 2006, Valentino Rossi announced that he would be staying in MotoGP until he felt his work on the motorbike was "finished".

Valentino Rossi subsequently signed a new contract with Yamaha for the 2007 and 2008 seasons, then for 2009 and 2010.

In 2008, Valentino Rossi tested a Ferrari F2008 at Mugello Circuit on 20 and 21 November 2008, as a gift from Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali to celebrate his eighth world title.

The second day was interrupted by rain, but Valentino Rossi still managed to set a best time of 1:24.04.

In January 2010, Valentino Rossi has said that once he retires from motorcycle racing, he hopes to move into rallying.

At the aforementioned test at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Valentino Rossi drove a Ferrari F2008 on GP2 tyres, setting a best laptime within 0.1 seconds of Kimi Raikkonen's 2008 pole time.

In December 2019, Valentino Rossi got the chance to swap rides with six-time F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton at Circuit Ricardo Tormo, as part of a sponsor event.

Valentino Rossi completed several laps in a 2017 Mercedes AMG F1 W08 EQ Power+, while Hamilton rode a Yamaha YZR-M1, identical to the one Rossi rode in the 2019 MotoGP season.

Valentino Rossi had competed in the Monza Rally Show several times in a Toyota Corolla WRC.

In October 2006 it was announced that Valentino Rossi would enter that year's Rally New Zealand, a WRC event, which was to run from 17 to 19 November.

Valentino Rossi competed in a Subaru Impreza WRC04 finishing 11th out of 39.

In 2006 Valentino Rossi won the Monza Rally Show driving a Ford Focus RS WRC 04.

Valentino Rossi beat the 2005 winner Rinaldo Capello by 24 seconds, winning five of the seven stages on his way.

Valentino Rossi managed to outpace former WRC champion Didier Auriol by seven seconds in the head-to-head Master Show final.

Valentino Rossi announced at the 2006 Monza Rally Show, that he would be entering the 2007 Rally of Great Britain he later opted out.

At the 2007 Monza Rally, Valentino Rossi again took first place.

Valentino Rossi had been linked with a move to both Formula One and the World Rally Championship in 2007, having tested for Ferrari and competed in a number of rally events.

Valentino Rossi originally planned to use the Impreza WRC2008 during his participation in the Rally GB in December 2008, but decided to drive a Ford Focus RS WRC 07 instead.

Valentino Rossi finished the rally in 12th place, 13 minutes and 20.4 seconds behind eventual winner Sebastien Loeb.

In 2012, Valentino Rossi participated in the Blancpain Endurance Series Pro-Am Cup with the Kessel Racing Team, driving Ferrari 458 Italia GT3.

Later in the same week after Valentino Rossi got the chance to swap rides with six-time F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton at Circuit Ricardo Tormo in a 2017 Mercedes AMG F1 W08 EQ Power+, Valentino Rossi competed in the 2019 Gulf 12 Hour at Yas Marina Circuit, behind the wheel of a Ferrari 488 GT3 ran by Kessel Racing.

Valentino Rossi's co-drivers were his half-brother and Moto2 rider, Luca Marini, and Alessio Salucci.

Valentino Rossi set the team's fastest laptime in qualifying, securing seventh place overall on the grid.

Valentino Rossi got into the car for the final stint and drove the car to an overall third place and a win in the Pro-Am class, despite picking up a five-second time penalty.

Not only does he love the world of road racing and all-terrain car racing, Valentino Rossi is known to love the motocross arena.

In flat track racing, Valentino Rossi has won several times the 'La 100km dei Campioni' racing event which he holds at Motor Ranch every year and is attended by members of the VR46 Riders Academy and professional motorcycle racers from other events.

Valentino Rossi competed in the GT World Challenge Europe in 2022 for Team WRT, driving an Audi R8 LMS in the endurance and sprint categories, and will sport the number 46, the same number he raced with in MotoGP.

In 2023, Valentino Rossi competes in the 24H Series with KFC VR46 with WRT Team driving a BMW M4 GT3 car.

Valentino Rossi is expected to feature at the Bathurst 12-Hour endurance race at Mount Panorama in Australia.

Valentino Rossi founded a racing school with the name VR46 Racing Academy.

The VR46 provides the experience and knowledge that Valentino Rossi has gained over the years of his career.

Valentino Rossi is the owner of the junior-class team Sky Racing Team by VR46, which debuted in the Moto3 category of Grand Prix motorcycle racing in 2014 with riders Romano Fenati and Francesco Bagnaia with his former Cagiva teammate Vittoriano Guareschi as team manager.

Valentino Rossi has a program for nurturing young riders called VR46 MasterCamp.

Since commencing his Grand Prix career, Valentino Rossi has worn leathers from Dainese.

In 2011 and 2012, Valentino Rossi was a member of the Ducati factory team, where the team wore shirts from Puma, while Valentino Rossi still maintained his association with Dainese.

Valentino Rossi's jacket has a different graphic compared with Alpinestars Movistar Yamaha jacket.

In March 2022 Valentino Rossi has announced a multi-year partnership with Racing Force Group, which would see Valentino Rossi use OMP race suit and Bell helmets in his car racing career.

Valentino Rossi adjusts the fit of his leathers by standing straight up on the foot-pegs, whilst riding down the pit-lane before the start of race or practice.

Valentino Rossi gets off the bike in the same way, swinging his right leg over the front of the bike.

Valentino Rossi has a maternal half-brother, Luca Marini, 2020 Moto2 season runner-up who was racing for the Sky Racing Team by VR46.

In 2021, Marini moved to the MotoGP class joining the Esponsorama Racing team using the Sky VR46 livery on his bike, before moving over to Valentino Rossi's VR46 Racing Team for the 2022 season.

Besides having a racing team, Valentino Rossi has other businesses such as merchandise, apparel, and many other things with the VR46 brand.

In 2007, the Italian tax authorities declared Valentino Rossi was being investigated for suspected tax evasion.

In February 2008, Valentino Rossi announced that he had reached a settlement with the Italian tax authorities: he paid 35 million euros to close the tax case.

Valentino Rossi plea-bargained a suspended sentence of six months' imprisonment for non-declaration of income.

Valentino Rossi keeps his personal life private, though he makes no secret of his fondness for Italian football club Inter Milan.

At the 2015 Argentine Grand Prix, Valentino Rossi wore a replica Diego Maradona football shirt on the podium in tribute to Maradona after Valentino Rossi won the race.