Valentino Rossi Profile

Biography

Date of Birth	16/02/1979
Place of Birth	Urbino, Italy
Nationality	Italian
Residence	London, UK
Height	182 cm
Weight	59 kg
Marital Status	Single
Hobbies	Soccer, radio-controlled toys
Total Races	GP starts: 174 (114 x MotoGP/500cc, 30 x 250cc, 30 x 125cc)
Victories	84 (57 x MotoGP/500cc, 14 x 250cc, 12 x 125cc)
Pole Positions:	45
Podiums	127
Wins	7 Grand Prix (1 x 125cc, 1 x 250cc, 1 x 500cc, 4 x MotoGP)
First Race	1991
First Grand Prix	Malaysia, 1996 (125cc)
First Pole	1996
* correct as of 01.01.2007

Valentino Rossi starts his fourth campaign as a Yamaha Factory Team rider in 2007 with the clear target of recapturing the MotoGP World Championship title after being dethroned by Nicky Hayden last year. After winning two consecutive World Championships with Yamaha in 2004 and 2005, following on from three previous back-to-back title successes, Rossi finished runner-up to the American despite scoring ten podiums and winning five races - more than any other rider. Now the record-breaking Italian, widely regarded as the finest motorcycle racer of his generation, starts the season without the crown to defend for the first time in five years.

Rossi’s five wins in 2006 took his premier-class career tally to 58, leaving him within striking distance of the legendary Giacomo Agostini’s all-time record of 68 – another enticing target for the 2007 season. For the third consecutive campaign Valentino will be ably assisted by his trusted team-mate and great friend Colin Edwards, as the pair apply their highly effective development partnership to Yamaha’s all-new 800cc machine and attempt to regain the Manufacturers’ and Teams’ titles they won together in 2005.

Rossi’s World Championship debut came at the Malaysian Grand Prix in 1996 and he finished his first international season in 9th place with one race win. The following year he became the youngest ever rider to win the 125cc World Championship, winning eleven races along the way with Aprilia. The pattern continued when he moved into the 250cc class, taking second place in his first year before becoming World Champion in 1999, once again with Aprilia.
In 2000 he entered a new phase of his career when he joined forces with Honda in the 500cc class. He proved his worth once again by finishing second, before becoming the last ever 500cc World Champion in 2001. Rossi held onto his crown four the next four consecutive seasons, taking the MotoGP World title in 2002 and 2003, before moving to Yamaha and winning again in 2004 and 2005.

Rossi made history by moving to Yamaha in 2004 and winning the season-opening Grand Prix in South Africa, becoming the first rider in the history of the sport to win back-to-back premier class races for different manufacturers. He went on to win nine out of 16 races, finally clinching the World Championship title, Yamaha’s first for 12 years, with victory at the penultimate Grand Prix in Phillip Island. A final win at the Valencia Grand Prix also ensured that the Yamaha Factory Team won the team title. Rossi followed up that triumph with a season of unprecedented success in 2005, when he successfully defended the title once again with a total of eleven race wins and five pole positions - only finishing off the podium once.

Rossi turned 28 in February 2007 and remains the youngest rider to have won World Championships in all three classes. He continues to have the support of his long-standing Crew Chief, Jeremy Burgess, who moved from Honda to work with him at Yamaha Factory Racing.

One of the most popular members of the paddock, ‘The Doctor’ has a wide fan base all over the world. A keen football fan and an accomplished rally driver, he is based in London between races.
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1985
First go-kart

1989
Kart racing début

1990
Regional Kart Champion, with nine wins

1991
5th in Italian Junior Kart championship; made bike racing début on Minimotos

1992
Italian Minibike Endurance Champion

1993
12th in Italian 125cc Sport Production championship, with Cagiva

1994
Italian 125cc Sport Production Champion, with Cagiva

1995
Italian 125cc Champion; 3rd in European 125cc championship; 11th in Spanish Open 125cc championship - all with Aprilia

1996 Scuderia AGV, number 46 Aprilia
In his first Grand Prix season, aged seventeen, Valentino was ninth overall in the 125cc series, with 111 points and seven top six finishes. His first visit to the podium came in round ten, with third in Austria, and he won the race at Brno next time out
Also 10th in the European 125cc championship, with Aprilia

1997 Nastro Azzurro Aprilia, number 46 Aprilia
Rossi’s second year on 125s was dominant, with eleven wins from fifteen races. He also scored a second, a third and a sixth, to complete a 321-point record for the category, and his first World Championship title

1998 Nastro Azzurro Aprilia, number 46 Aprilia
The 1998 season was Rossi’s ‘learning’ year in the 250cc series, and he finished second as early as rounds three, four and five. His first win came at Assen in round seven, and four more at the end of the year took him to second overall, on 201 points, between rivals Loris Capirossi and Tetsuya Harada

1999 Aprilia Grand Prix Racing, number 46 Aprilia
As in the 125s, Valentino’s second 250 season saw him setting the pace, and his nine race wins meant he duly wrapped up a second GP championship. He was on the podium in twelve of sixteen races, and scored 309 points in total

2000 Nastro Azzurro Honda, number 46 Honda
For 2000, Rossi moved onto a works-supported 500cc Honda, engineered by the highly successful Jerry Burgess. Once again it was a learning process, but he was already finishing third in rounds four (where he qualified second), five and seven. A late season run, including wins in Britain and Brazil, saw him emerge as the nearest challenger to champion elect Kenny Roberts. A final tally of 209 points placed him second behind the American Suzuki rider
Also qualified sixth for the Suzuka 8 Hours, with Colin Edwards

2001 Nastro Azzurro Honda, number 46 Honda
By his second year, Valentino was ready to take the 500 title. Despite a strong challenge from compatriots Max Biaggi and Loris Capirossi, he racked up four pole positions and had thirteen podiums, including eleven wins. In the end he was over 100 points clear - 325 to Biaggi’s 219 - and went down in history as the last man to win a 500cc-only World Championship
Also won the Suzuka 8 Hours, with Colin Edwards and Manabu Kamada, and set fastest lap

2002 Repsol Honda Team, number 46 Honda
For 2002, Rossi and Burgess were brought into the full factory Honda team, which had produced the RC211V bike for the new 990cc four-stroke GP1 regulations. Despite four-stoke opposition from Max Biaggi, Tohru Ukawa and others, Valentino was once again the top rider. Pole positions at seven venues were converted into another eleven victories, including a run of seven straight that was only ended by a tyre failure. This time 355 points was 140 clear of his nearest rival!

2003 Repsol Honda, number 46 Honda
As ever, Rossi was the man to beat in Grands Prix, finishing first, second or third in each of the sixteen races during the year, and wrapping up another title. Although Sete Gibernau stayed in touch for some time, Valentino had plenty of experience in making the decisive break, and is still regarded as the talent by which the rest are jugded.

2004 Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha, number 46 Yamaha
For 2004, Rossi’s challenge was to take Yamaha back to the top, and that is what he did, despite Honda’s apparent performance advantage. A winner first time out, he was first home nine times in total, with five pole positions, and was always in the top four bar two non-finishes.

2005 Yamaha Gauloises Team, number 46 Yamaha
Starting as the favourite for 2005, success for the fourth time means that Valentino remains the only man to take a 990cc MotoGP class title. The Yamaha M1 was improved, but not superior to the rest and, with a lack of consistency from his Honda rivals, Rossi returned to dominant form. To complete the journey, his performances in torrential rain also proved unbeatable.
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