Valentino Rossi

Valentino Rossi
Rossi at the 2015 Grand Prix of the Americas.
Nationality	Italian
Born	(1979-02-16) 16 February 1979 (age 37) Urbino, Italy
Current team	Movistar Yamaha MotoGP
Bike number	46
Website	valentinorossi.com
Motorcycle racing career statistics MotoGP World Championship Active years 2000– Manufacturers Honda (2000–2003) Yamaha (2004–2010, 2013–) Ducati (2011–2012) Championships 7 (2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2009) 2016 championship position 2nd (249 pts) Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 288 88 185 54 75 4725 250cc World Championship Active years 1998–1999 Manufacturers Aprilia Championships 1 (1999) Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 30 14 21 5 11 510 125cc World Championship Active years 1996–1997 Manufacturers Aprilia Championships 1 (1997) Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 30 12 15 5 9 432

Valentino Rossi (Italian pronunciation: [valenˈtiːno ˈrossi]; born 16 February 1979) is an Italian professional motorcycle racer and multiple MotoGP World Champion. He is considered to be the greatest and one of the most successful motorcycle racers of all time, with nine Grand Prix World Championships to his name – seven of which are in the premier class.

Following his father, Graziano Rossi, Valentino started racing in Grand Prix in 1996 for Aprilia in the 125cc category and won his first World Championship the following year. From there, he moved up to the 250cc category with Aprilia and won the 250cc World Championship in 1999. After graduating to the premier class in 2000, he won the 500cc World Championship with Honda in 2001, the MotoGP World Championships (also with Honda) in 2002 and 2003, and continued his streak of back-to-back championships by winning the 2004 and 2005 titles after leaving Honda to join Yamaha, before regaining the title in 2008 and retaining it in 2009. He left Yamaha to join Ducati for the 2011 season, but it was confirmed in 2012 that he would rejoin Yamaha for the 2013 and 2014 seasons. He suffered two winless seasons while at Ducati.