Valentino Rossi

Valentino Rossi

Valentino Rossi, 2010
Nation:	Italy
Motorcycle world championship
Status:	active ( MotoGP )
Start number:	46
statistics
Starts Victories Poles SR 406 115 65 96
World title:	9
World Cup points:	6285
Podiums:	235
Stand: 2019 Valencia Grand Prix
According to class (es): 125 cc class First start: 1996 Malaysian Grand Prix Last start: 1997 Australian Grand Prix Constructors 1996-1997  Aprilia World Cup balance World Champion ( 1997 ) Starts Victories Poles SR 30th 12 5 9 World Cup points: 432 Podiums: 15th 250 cc class First start: 1998 Japanese Grand Prix Last start: 1999 Argentina Grand Prix Constructors 1998-1999  Aprilia World Cup balance World Champion ( 1999 ) Starts Victories Poles SR 30th 14th 5 11 World Cup points: 510 Podiums: 21st 500 cc class First start: 2000 South African Grand Prix Last start: 2001 Rio de Janeiro Grand Prix Constructors 2000-2001  Honda World Cup balance World Champion ( 2001 ) Starts Victories Poles SR 32 13 4th 15th World Cup points: 534 Podiums: 23 MotoGP class First start: 2002 Japanese Grand Prix Constructors 2002–2003  Honda  • 2004–2010, 2013–2019  Yamaha  • 2011–2012  Ducati World Cup balance World Champion ( 2002 , 2003 , 2004 , 2005 , 2008 , 2009 ) Starts Victories Poles SR 314 76 51 61 World Cup points: 4809 Podiums: 176

Valentino Rossi, 2005

Valentino Rossi, 2006

Valentino Rossi (born February 16, 1979 in Urbino ) is an Italian motorcycle racer and with nine world championship titles is one of the most successful pilots in history.

One of his trademarks is the starting number 46, which his father, Graziano Rossi , wore. Rossi has numerous nicknames, including "Vale", "The Doctor", "Valentinik", "The GOAT" (Greatest of All Time) and "Rossifumi".

In addition to his sporting successes, Valentino Rossi also draws attention to himself with his nicknames and acting performances on the racetrack. He calls himself "The Doctor" and likes to show the audience at the racetrack and on television tricks on motorcycles, disguises or special helmet and motorcycle designs. Through his sporting success and his extroverted behavior, he became one of the most popular athletes in Italy and a world-famous media star.

Motorcycling

Athletic career

Valentino Rossi's mother Stefania wanted him to be a soccer player , but his father brought him to karting . In 1990 he won the regional go-kart championship with nine victories. Because he was too big and too heavy for his old go-kart and a bigger one could not be financed, Graziano decided to switch to a minimoto / minibike. In 1991 he won his first mini bike race. A year later he became the regional mini moto champion. From the age of 14 years (1993) went Rossi street racers and was on a 125- cc - Cagiva third in the Italian Sport Production Championship. In 1995 he was Italian motorcycle road champion in the 125cc class on Aprilia .

In the 1996 season Rossi drove a 125 cc GP machine for Aprilia in the 125cc World Championship, where he took his first pole position and his first victory in Brno . In 1997 he won the motorcycle world championship with an Aprilia in the 125cc class, winning 11 of 15 races. In 1998 Rossi switched to the 250cc class, where he won nine of 14 races and the world title in 1999 on an Aprilia RSW 250.

In 2000 he continued his career with Honda in the 500cc class, recorded his first victory in the premier class in Great Britain and finished second in the World Championship behind Kenny Roberts junior . In 2001 , Rossi won the last 500cc two-stroke World Championship with multiple victories, becoming the second rider in motorcycle racing history to win titles in three classes after Phil Read . Rossi also took part in the 8-hour race in Suzuka . Together with Colin Edwards , he won the race on a Honda.

Valentino Rossi, 2005

In the years 2002 and 2003 Rossi became World Champion again, this time in the newly created MotoGP class on the four-stroke - Honda RC211V . For 2004 he was looking for a new challenge with a two-year contract with Yamaha and successfully defended his title again. With the help of his chief engineer Jeremy Burgess, Rossi turned an inferior motorcycle into a competitive racing vehicle in four months (January to April, because Honda did not release him from the contract that expired on December 31, 2003). He justified his move to Yamaha with “We won in the wet, we won in the dry. We don't have the motivation anymore. " (" We won in the wet, we won in the dry. We are no longer motivated. "). Rossi also successfully defended the MotoGP title of the 2005 season prematurely .

As part of the German Grand Prix in 2005 at the Sachsenring , he extended his contract with Yamaha for a further year until the end of 2006. The new contract is said to have brought him 20 million euros per season. He is thus the best-paid motorcycle athlete in history and the best-paid athlete in Italy at the time.

The 2006 season was mixed for Rossi. After a fall as a result of a collision with Toni Elías in the opening race and several failures due to technical problems on the motorcycle, e.g. B. in Shanghai and in Le Mans, he fell significantly behind Nicky Hayden , who was constantly scoring . A race to catch up from the middle of the season and a failure by Hayden after a collision with his teammate Dani Pedrosa in the penultimate race brought Rossi back to the championship lead after the deficit to the championship leader was temporarily up to 51 points. A self-inflicted fall in the final race and a resulting 13th place cost Rossi the sixth title in a row.

In 2007 Rossi had to bow to a constantly driving Casey Stoner on a Ducati, which was superior to the field in top speed. In the last race of the season Rossi also lost second place in the World Championship by dropping out by one point to the winner of the race, Dani Pedrosa.

In 2008 Rossi won the eighth title of his career and his sixth in the premier class at the Japanese Grand Prix, with three races still outstanding, with his eighth win of the season. In addition, he was able to improve the corresponding premier class record of Agostini with a victory at the Indianapolis Grand Prix , his 69th victory in the highest displacement class.

With six wins in the 2009 season , the Italian was world champion for the ninth time in his career ahead of his Spanish team-mate Jorge Lorenzo .

On June 5, 2010, Valentino Rossi had a hard crash in the second free practice session for the Italian Grand Prix in Mugello . He suffered a double, open fracture of the shin . He underwent a successful operation on the same day in a hospital in Florence , and a break of at least six weeks was forecast. And after actually only six weeks, in which he had to sit out for three races, he made a strong comeback at the Sachsenring with fourth place. On August 15, 2010, Rossi put an end to the speculation about his sporting future and signed a two-year contract from 2011 with the Ducati MotoGP team .

At the 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix , Rossi was involved in the tragic accident through no fault of his own , in which Marco Simoncelli was killed.

Valentino Rossi, 2013

At the end of the 2012 season, Rossi left the Ducati team after two unsuccessful years and switched back to the Yamaha works team at the side of Jorge Lorenzo and was able to take second place in the first race in Qatar.

With his second place at the French Grand Prix (2014) on the Bugatti circuit , Rossi achieved his 150th podium in the premier class (500 cm³ or MotoGP) of the motorcycle world championship. He reached the next milestone at the next race in Italy . There Rossi drove his 300th race in the motorcycle world championship. With his third place at the Indianapolis Grand Prix (2014) at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, he was the first driver to break the 4,000-point mark in the top class of the motorcycle world championship. After starting from the front row for the first time in the 2014 season at the San Marino Grand Prix , he clinched his first win of the season in the race. It was his first victory in Misano since 2009. After a fall of Marc Márquez , who was already world champion at the time , Rossi also won the Australian Grand Prix . At the Valencia Grand Prix , he took his first pole position since the 2010 French Grand Prix. In the race, he finished second behind Marc Márquez and finished the season with 13 podium places in second place in the World Championship. It was Rossi's most successful season since his last world title in 2009.

With his third place at the German Grand Prix in the 2015 season , Rossi now holds the record for the longest time gap between the first and last Grand Prix podium. This record was held by Ángel Nieto 29 years before him . With his participation in the Malaysian Grand Prix, Rossi is now the driver with the most contested Grand Prix races (329 starts). Loris Capirossi previously held this record. Also at the Malaysian Grand Prix, Rossi and Márquez touched, and then Márquez fell. After the race, the race management decided to give Rossi three penalty points for this action. Since he already had one penalty point, he had to start the last race of the season in Valencia from last place on the grid. Rossi appealed against this punishment to the International Sports Court with an urgent application. At the very least, he wanted to get Valencia's sentence delayed. However, this urgent application was rejected. Although Rossi was able to work his way up to fourth place in the race, it was not enough to win the world title. Lorenzo won and thus had five points more than Rossi in the overall standings. Since the title was now awarded and the decision of the International Court of Justice would have had no influence on it, Rossi withdrew the appeal in December.

At the first race weekend of the 2016 season , Rossi and Yamaha announced the Italian's contract extension. He signed a contract with the Yamaha factory team up to and including 2018 . On March 15, 2018 it was announced that Rossi would extend this early until 2020.

Motor sport activities in addition to the motorcycle world championship

Since winning the world championship title in all displacement classes, the future of Valentino Rossi has always been the subject of speculation. From 2004 he was repeatedly discussed as a possible driver for the Ferrari Formula 1 team . At that time he completed several test drives and came within 1.5 seconds of Michael Schumacher's time on the Ferrari test track .

Rumors of a change to the World Rally Championship also made the rounds after a successful event (3rd place in the Monza Rally). Both rumors have so far not come true. On May 25, 2006 it became known that although an offer from Ferrari existed, Rossi had rejected it. On June 4, 2006, he announced that he had extended his contract with Yamaha until the end of 2007. On 9 November 2006 tested Rossi on the Hockenheimring DTM - Mercedes , pointing a possible future together with the Stuttgart manufacturer in Formula 1 at.

On November 22, 2009, Rossi contested his first long-distance race at the 6-hour race in Vallelunga and finished third in the GT3 class with a Ferrari 430 GT3 with Uccio Salucci and Andrea Ceccato .

statistics

Infographic: Valentino Rossi GP Statistics 1996–2019

In the motorcycle world championship

• 125 cc world champion on Aprilia: 1997
• 250 cc world champion on Aprilia: 1999
• 500 cc world champion on Honda: 2001
• MotoGP - World Championship on Honda: 2002 , 2003
• MotoGP world champion on Yamaha : 2004 , 2005 , 2008 , 2009
• 115 Grand Prix victories

Numbers per season

(Status: GP of the Czech Republic 2020)

season	class	motorcycle	team	run	Victories	Podiums	Poles	Points	Result
1996	125 cc	Aprilia RS125R	Scuderia AGV Aprilia	15th	1	2	1	111	9.
1997	125 cc	Aprilia RS125R	Nastro Azzurro Aprilia	15th	11	13	4th	321	World Champion
1998	250 cc	Aprilia RS250	Nastro Azzurro Aprilia	14th	5	9	-	201	2.
1999	250 cc	Aprilia RS250	Nastro Azzurro Aprilia	16	9	12	5	309	World Champion
2000	500 cc	Honda NSR500	Nastro Azzurro Honda	16	2	10	-	209	2.
2001	500 cc	Honda NSR500	Nastro Azzurro Honda	16	11	13	4th	325	World Champion
2002	MotoGP	Honda RC211V	Repsol Honda Team	16	11	15th	7th	355	World Champion
2003	MotoGP	Honda RC211V	Repsol Honda Team	16	9	16	9	357	World Champion
2004	MotoGP	Yamaha YZR-M1	Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha	16	9	11	5	304	World Champion
2005	MotoGP	Yamaha YZR-M1	Gauloises Yamaha Team	17th	11	16	5	367	World Champion
2006	MotoGP	Yamaha YZR-M1	Camel Yamaha team	17th	5	10	5	247	2.
2007	MotoGP	Yamaha YZR-M1	Fiat Yamaha team	18th	4th	8th	4th	241	3.
2008	MotoGP	Yamaha YZR-M1	Fiat Yamaha team	18th	9	16	2	373	World Champion
2009	MotoGP	Yamaha YZR-M1	Fiat Yamaha team	17th	6th	13	7th	306	World Champion
2010	MotoGP	Yamaha YZR-M1	Fiat Yamaha team	14th	2	10	1	233	3.
2011	MotoGP	Ducati Desmosedici GP11	Ducati team	17th	-	1	-	139	7th
2012	MotoGP	Ducati Desmosedici GP12	Ducati team	18th	-	2	-	163	6th
2013	MotoGP	Yamaha YZR-M1	Yamaha Factory Racing	18th	1	6th	-	237	4th
2014	MotoGP	Yamaha YZR-M1	Movistar Yamaha MotoGP	18th	2	13	1	295	2.
2015	MotoGP	Yamaha YZR-M1	Movistar Yamaha MotoGP	18th	4th	15th	1	325	2.
2016	MotoGP	Yamaha YZR-M1	Movistar Yamaha MotoGP	18th	2	10	3	249	2.
2017	MotoGP	Yamaha YZR-M1	Movistar Yamaha MotoGP	17th	1	6th	-	208	5.
2018	MotoGP	Yamaha YZR-M1	Movistar Yamaha MotoGP	18th	-	5	1	198	3.
2019	MotoGP	Yamaha YZR-M1	Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP	19th	-	2	-	174	7th
2020	MotoGP	Yamaha YZR-M1	Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP	4th	-	1	-	38	5.
total				405	115	234	65	6248	9 world titles

Victories (chronological)

See also : List of motorcycle world championship riders with the most Grand Prix victories

(Status: end of season 2019)

1996	125 cc
1997	125 cc
1998	250 cc
1999	250 cc
2000	500 cc
2001	500 cc
2002	MotoGP
2003	MotoGP
2004	MotoGP
2005	MotoGP
2006	MotoGP
2007	MotoGP
2008	MotoGP
2009	MotoGP
2010	MotoGP
2013	MotoGP
2014	MotoGP
2015	MotoGP
2016	MotoGP
2017	MotoGP

Single results

season	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th	16	17th	18th	19th
1996
	6th	11	11	4th	4th	DNF	DNF	5	DNF	3	1	5	DNF	DNF	14th
1997
	1	DNF	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	3	1	1	6th
1998
	DNF	DNF	2	2	2	DNF	1	DNF	3	DNF	1	1	1	1
1999
	5	7th	1	DNF	1	1	2	1	1	1	2	8th	1	1	1	3
2000
	DNF	DNF	11	3	3	12	3	6th	1	2	2	3	DNF	1	2	3
2001
	1	1	1	3	DNF	1	2	1	7th	1	1	11	1	1	1	1
2002
	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	DNF	1	1	2	2	1	2
2003
	1	2	1	2	1	2	3	3	2	1	1	1	2	1	1	1
2004
	1	4th	4th	1	1	1	DNF	4th	1	2	1	2	DNF	1	1	1
2005
	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	3	1	1	1	DNF	2	1	1	2	3
2006
	14th	1	4th	DNF	DNF	1	1	8th	2	1	DNF	2	1	3	2	2	13
2007
	2	1	10	2	6th	1	2	4th	1	DNF	4th	7th	DNF	1	13	3	5	DNF
2008
	5	2	3	1	1	1	2	2	11	2	1	1	1	1	1	2	1	3
2009
	2	2	1	16	3	1	1	2	1	5	1	DNF	1	4th	2	3	2
2010
	1	3	2	INJ	INJ	INJ	INJ	4th	3	5	4th	3	6th	3	1	3	2	3
2011
	7th	5	5	3	5	6th	4th	6th	9	6th	6th	10	7th	10	DNF	DNF	Ann.	DNF
2012
	10	9	7th	2	7th	9	13	6th	5	DNF	7th	7th	2	8th	7th	5	7th	10
2013
	2	6th	4th	12	DNF	4th	1	3	3	4th	4th	4th	4th	3	4th	3	6th	4th
2014
	2	8th	4th	2	2	3	2	5	4th	3	3	3	1	DNF	3	1	2	2
2015
	1	3	1	3	2	3	2	1	3	3	3	1	5	3	2	4th	3	4th
2016
	4th	2	DNF	1	2	DNF	1	DNF	8th	4th	2	3	2	3	DNF	2	2	4th
2017
	3	2	2	10	DNF	4th	8th	1	5	4th	7th	3	INJ	5	DNF	2	7th	5
2018
	3	19th	4th	5	3	3	3	5	2	4th	6th	C.	7th	8th	4th	4th	6th	18th	13
2019
	5	2	2	6th	5	DNF	DNF	DNF	8th	6th	4th	4th	4th	8th	8th	DNF	8th	4th	8th

Next to the racetrack

Starting number 46 in 2013

Nicknames

He probably has the nickname "The Doctor" for several reasons:

• In Italy you get the nickname "Il Dottore" when you are particularly good at something.
• He himself once said that in the MotoGP class you have to proceed with surgical precision.
• The addition “Dottore” is also due to the preference of some Italians to put a title in front of particularly revered personalities as a declaration of respect, even if they do not have it at all.

Rossi is now starting as a "real" doctor. The university in his hometown Urbino gave him the title of Dr. H. c. awarded for communication .

Private life

In 2007, the Italian authorities said that Rossi was being investigated on suspicion of tax evasion. It is about 112 million euros in untaxed income. Rossi had officially moved to London , but authorities continued to live mainly in his hometown of Tavullia . In February 2008 the proceedings against the payment of 35 million euros were discontinued.

His half-brother Luca Marini is also a racing driver.

Honors

• Italy's Sportsman of the Year ( La Gazzetta dello Sport ): 2001, 2002, 2003, 2008, 2009
• Gazzetta Sports Award - "Legend": 2015
• In Tavullia , the hometown of Rossi, the top speed was reduced in his honor from the 50 km / h usual in Italy to 46 km / h.

literature

• Valentino Rossi and Enrico Borghi: Valentino Rossi - the autobiography. Bombus-Verlag, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-936261-52-0 .
• Mat Oxley: Valentino Rossi - MotoGP champion . Delius Klasing Verlag , Bielefeld 2011, ISBN 978-3-7688-5331-6 .

Web links

Commons : Valentino Rossi  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Literature by and about Valentino Rossi in the catalog of the German National Library
• Valentino Rossi on the official website of the motorcycle world championship (English).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Lennart Schmid: Rossi's fall overshadows Lorenzo's best time. www.motorsport-total.com, June 5, 2010, accessed June 6, 2010 . 
2. ↑ Lennart Schmid, Maximilian Kroiss: Rossi: Broken Shin - Immediate Operation in Florence. www.motorsport-total.com, June 5, 2010, accessed June 6, 2010 . 
3. ↑ Lennart Schmid: Rossi: The operation was successful. www.motorsport-total.com, June 5, 2010, accessed June 6, 2010 . 
4. ↑ Rossi switched to Ducati in 2011. www.motogp.com, August 15, 2010, accessed August 16, 2010 . 
5. ↑ Rossi Yamaha 2013 - Motorcycle Sport. Retrieved November 23, 2019 (Austrian German). 
6. ↑ Dorna Sports: Rossi satisfied after next podium | MotoGP ™. Retrieved November 23, 2019 . 
7. ↑ Dorna Sports: Rossi with podium at the 300th anniversary GP | MotoGP ™. Retrieved November 23, 2019 . 
8. ^ SID: Motorsport: Bradl eliminated, tenth win for Marquez. In: Focus Online . August 10, 2014, accessed October 14, 2018 . 
9. ↑ Dorna Sports: Rossi breaks another record | MotoGP ™. Retrieved August 27, 2019 . 
10. ↑ Valentino Rossi withdraws objection to the Sports Court. Retrieved August 27, 2019 . 
11. ↑ Dorna Sports: Rossi & Yamaha confirmed new 2-year contract | MotoGP ™. Retrieved August 27, 2019 . 
12. ↑ At 40 in MotoGP: Rossi extended with Yamaha . ( kurier.at [accessed on April 6, 2018]).
13. ↑ ["The book Formula 1 is not too" Rossi flirts with Mercedes "Rossi flirts with Mercedes: The book Formula 1 is not too"] (n-tv.de on November 9, 2006)
14. ↑ "Rossi: Podium in GT debut" (Motorsport-total.com on November 23, 2009)
15. ↑ "Rossi supposedly has to pay 35 million" ( Memento from February 16, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) (n-tv.de on February 12, 2008)
16. ↑ Motorsport-aktuell from September 10, 2013, p. 26.
17. ↑ What's new? from 11/15/2013. Retrieved on November 10, 2019 (German). 
18. ↑ In Tavullia you are only allowed to drive 46. Retrieved November 10, 2019 .