Valentino Rossi - 'The Doctor'

Stats

• Date of Birth- February 16th 1979
• Weight - 59 kg
• Place of Birth - Urbino, Italy
• Residence - London, UK

Introduction

Career History

Valentino Rossi has had fame and success at an early stage and is a force to be reckoned with in the MotoGP series. He fought through to become the 125 and 250cc World Champion and has since been crowned the 500cc Champion. Rossi won his first title at the age of 15 in 1994, taught ny his Dad, Graziano Rossi, one of the most popular Italian riders of the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Rossi has broken many records at such a young age and has a great future ahead of him in MotoGP

• 1994 - Italian Sport Production 125cc Champion (Aprilia)
• 1995 - Italian Sport Production 125cc Champion (Aprilia) and 4th in European 125cc Championship (Aprilia)
• 1996 - 9th in World 125cc Championship (Aprilia) li>1997 - World 125cc Champion (Aprilia)
• 1998 - Runner-up, World 250cc Championship (Aprilia)
• 1999 - World 250cc Champion (Aprilia)
• 2000 - Runner-up, World 500cc Championship (Honda)
• 2001 - World 500cc Champion (Honda)
• 2002 - World MotoGP Champion (Honda)
• 2003 - World MotoGP Champion (Honda)
• 2004 - World MotoGP Champion
• 2005 - World MotoGP Champion (Yamaha)
• 2006 - World MotoGP Champion (Yamaha)
• 2005 - Runner-up, World MotoGP (Yamaha)

Rossi's MotoGP Stats

• GP victories: 69 (21 X MotoGP, 13 X 500cc, 14 X 250cc, 12 X 125cc)
• First GP victory: Czech Republic, 1996 (125cc)
• First GP: Malaysia, 1996 (125cc)
• GP starts: 125 (33 x MotoGP, 32 x 500cc, 30 x 250cc, 30 x 125cc)
• Pole positions: 31
• Consecutive podiums - 23
• Poduim finishes - 91
• World Titles - 5

Rossi's Records

23 consecutive podium finishes following the victory in the opening round of MotoGP in 2004, beating Giacomo Agostini's previous record which stood for an amazing 35 years. In was August 2002 in Czech Republic when Rossi last failed to reach the podium.

Rossi is in the top five all-time podium finishes in the premier class on motorcycle racing, including the opening round of the 2004 season, he has 55 podiums, 34 of which were victories. His next victum in 4th is Wayne Rainey.

He is the first rider since Barry Sheen to win the opening round for four successive season, Sheen achieved it in 1976. '77. '78 and '79.

He is the first rider in the series history to win back-to-back races for two different manufacturers