Career statistics

By season

Season	Class	Bike	Team	Race	Win	Pod	Pole	FLap	Pts	Plcd	WCh
1996	125cc	Aprilia RS125	Scuderia AGV Aprilia	15	1	2	1	2	111	9th	0
1997		Aprilia RS125	Nastro Azzurro Aprilia	15	11	13	4	7	321	1st	1
1998	250cc	Aprilia RS250	Nastro Azzurro Aprilia	14	5	9	0	3	201	2nd	0
1999		Aprilia RS250	Aprilia Grand Prix Racing	16	9	12	5	8	309	1st	1
2000	500cc	Honda NSR500	Nastro Azzurro Honda	16	2	10	0	5	209	2nd	0
2001		Honda NSR500	Nastro Azzurro Honda	16	11	13	4	10	325	1st	1
2002	MotoGP	Honda RC211V	Repsol Honda	16	11	15	7	9	355	1st	1
2003		Honda RC211V	Repsol Honda	16	9	16	9	12	357	1st	1
2004		Yamaha YZR-M1	Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha	16	9	11	5	3	304	1st	1
2005		Yamaha YZR-M1	Gauloises Yamaha	17	11	16	5	6	367	1st	1
2006		Yamaha YZR-M1	Camel Yamaha	17	5	10	5	4	247	2nd	0
2007		Yamaha YZR-M1	Fiat Yamaha	18	4	8	4	3	241	3rd	0
2008		Yamaha YZR-M1	Fiat Yamaha	18	9	16	2	5	373	1st	1
2009		Yamaha YZR-M1	Fiat Yamaha	17	6	14	7	6	306	1st	1
2010		Yamaha YZR-M1	Fiat Yamaha	14	2	10	1	2	233	3rd	0
Total				241	105	174	59	85	4259		9

 By class

Class	Seas	1st GP	1st Pod	1st Win	Race	Win	Podiums	Pole	FLap	Pts	WChmp
125 cc	1996–1997	1996 Malaysia	1996 Austria	1996 Czech Rep.	30	12	15	5	9	432	1
250 cc	1998–1999	1998 Japan	1998 Spain	1998 Dutch	30	14	21	5	11	510	1
500 cc	2000–2001	2000 South Af.	2000 Spain	2000 British	32	13	23	4	15	534	1
MotoGP	2002–Present	2002 Japan	2002 Japan	2002 Japan	149	66	115	45	50	2783	6
Total	1996–Present				241	105	174	59	85	4259	9

 Races by year

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Yr	Class	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	Final Pos	Pts
1996	125 cc	Aprilia	MAL 6	INA 11	JPN 11	SPA 4	ITA 4	FRA Ret	NED Ret	GER 5	GBR Ret	AUT 3	CZE 1	IMO 5	CAT Ret	BRA Ret	AUS 14				9th	111
1997	125 cc	Aprilia	MAL 1	JPN Ret	SPA 1	ITA 1	AUT 2	FRA 1	NED 1	IMO 1	GER 1	BRA 1	GBR 1	CZE 3	CAT 1	INA 1	AUS 6				1st	321
1998	250 cc	Aprilia	JPN Ret	MAL Ret	SPA 2	ITA 2	FRA 2	MAD Ret	NED 1	GBR Ret	GER 3	CZE Ret	IMO 1	CAT 1	AUS 1	ARG 1					2nd	201
1999	250 cc	Aprilia	MAL 5	JPN 7	SPA 1	FRA Ret	ITA 1	CAT 1	NED 2	GBR 1	GER 1	CZE 1	IMO 2	VAL 8	AUS 1	RSA 1	BRA 1	ARG 3			1st	309
2000	500 cc	Honda	RSA Ret	MAL Ret	JPN 11	SPA 3	FRA 3	ITA 12	CAT 3	NED 6	GBR 1	GER 2	CZE 2	POR 3	VAL Ret	BRA 1	PAC 2	AUS 3			2nd	209
2001	500 cc	Honda	JPN 1	RSA 1	SPA 1	FRA 3	ITA Ret	CAT 1	NED 2	GBR 1	GER 7	CZE 1	POR 1	VAL 11	PAC 1	AUS 1	MAL 1	BRA 1			1st	325
2002	MotoGP	Honda	JPN 1	RSA 2	SPA 1	FRA 1	ITA 1	CAT 1	NED 1	GBR 1	GER 1	CZE Ret	POR 1	BRA 1	PAC 2	MAL 2	AUS 1	VAL 2			1st	355
2003	MotoGP	Honda	JPN 1	RSA 2	SPA 1	FRA 2	ITA 1	CAT 2	NED 3	GBR 3	GER 2	CZE 1	POR 1	BRA 1	PAC 2	MAL 1	AUS 1	VAL 1			1st	357
2004	MotoGP	Yamaha	RSA 1	SPA 4	FRA 4	ITA 1	CAT 1	NED 1	BRA Ret	GER 4	GBR 1	CZE 2	POR 1	JPN 2	QAT Ret	MAL 1	AUS 1	VAL 1			1st	304
2005	MotoGP	Yamaha	SPA 1	POR 2	CHN 1	FRA 1	ITA 1	CAT 1	NED 1	USA 3	GBR 1	GER 1	CZE 1	JPN Ret	MAL 2	QAT 1	AUS 1	TUR 2	VAL 3		1st	367
2006	MotoGP	Yamaha	SPA 14	QAT 1	TUR 4	CHN Ret	FRA Ret	ITA 1	CAT 1	NED 8	GBR 2	GER 1	USA Ret	CZE 2	MAL 1	AUS 3	JPN 2	POR 2	VAL 13		2nd	247
2007	MotoGP	Yamaha	QAT 2	SPA 1	TUR 10	CHN 2	FRA 6	ITA 1	CAT 2	GBR 4	NED 1	GER Ret	USA 4	CZE 7	SMR Ret	POR 1	JPN 13	AUS 3	MAL 5	VAL Ret	3rd	241
2008	MotoGP	Yamaha	QAT 5	SPA 2	POR 3	CHN 1	FRA 1	ITA 1	CAT 2	GBR 2	NED 11	GER 2	USA 1	CZE 1	SMR 1	IND 1	JPN 1	AUS 2	MAL 1	VAL 3	1st	373
2009	MotoGP	Yamaha	QAT 2	JPN 2	SPA 1	FRA 16	ITA 3	CAT 1	NED 1	USA 2	GER 1	GBR 5	CZE 1	IND Ret	SMR 1	POR 4	AUS 2	MAL 3	VAL 2		1st	306
2010	MotoGP	Yamaha	QAT 1	SPA 3	FRA 2	ITA DNS	GBR	NED	CAT	GER 4	USA 3	CZE 5	IND 4	SMR 3	ARA 6	JPN 3	MAL 1	AUS 3	POR 2	VAL 3	3rd	233

 Records

As of the end of the 2010 Valencia Grand Prix, Valentino Rossi holds the following records:

Record	Number
Combined records (all classes)
Podium finishes	174
Pole positions	59
Points	4259
Consecutive race starts	230 (1996 Malaysian GP–2010 French GP)
Consecutive years with a win	15 (1996–2010)
Championship titles with different engine displacement	5 (125cc, 250cc, 500cc, 800cc, 990cc)
Most wins at Mugello (Italian GP)	9 (1997, 1999, 2002–2008)
Consecutive wins at Mugello (Italian GP)	7 (2002–2008)
Wins with Aprilia	26
500cc/MotoGP records
Wins	79
Second places	37
Podium finishes	138
Podium finishes in a season	16 (2003, 2005, 2008)[Note 1]
Fastest laps in a season	12 (2003)
Consecutive podium finishes	23 (2002 Portuguese GP–2004 South African GP)
Consecutive race starts	170 (2000 South African GP–2010 French GP)
Championship titles with Yamaha	4 (2004–2005, 2008–2009)
Consecutive championship titles with different constructors[Note 2]	2 (2003–2004)
Consecutive wins with different constructors	2 (2003 Valencian GP–2004 South African GP)
Wins with Yamaha	46
Wins in a season with Yamaha	11 (2005)
Consecutive wins with Yamaha	5 (2005 Chinese GP–2005 Dutch TT, 2008 United States GP–2008 Japanese GP)
Championship titles with different motorcycles	4 (500cc Honda, 990cc Honda, 990cc Yamaha, 800cc Yamaha)
Championship titles with different engine displacement	3 (500cc, 800cc, 990cc)
Championship titles with different engine configuration[Note 3]	2 (two-stroke engine, four-stroke engine)
125cc records
Wins in a season	11 (1997)

^{Note 1} Record shared with Jorge Lorenzo.
^{Note 2} Record shared with Eddie Lawson.
^{Note 3} Record shared with Giacomo Agostini.

Personal life

After leaving the family home in Tavullia, he moved to Milan, before taking up residency in London, England during his period with Honda. During this time he acquired a villa in Ibiza which he still owns, and following the tax case has now returned to his main residence to live close to his family in Italy.

 Reputed earnings

According to Sports Illustrated, Rossi is one of the highest earning sports personalities in the world, having earned an estimated $34 million in 2007. In 2009 Forbes ranked Rossi as number nine among the world's highest-paid athletes having earned an estimated $35 million in the past year.

 Tax avoidance case

In 2007, the Italian tax authorities declared Rossi was being investigated for suspected tax evasion. Having previously unsuccessfully investigated Rossi for tax evasion in 2002, the authorities announced they were investigating Rossi for undeclared revenues of 112 million euros ($160 million) between 2000 to 2004. The officials said, against the European Taxes Agreements among European countries, Rossi's London residency has enabled him to take advantage of favourable tax conditions, such as only declaring earnings made in Britain and avoiding taxes on his lucrative merchandising and sponsorship contracts, commenting that Rossi had: "residency in London but is not domiciled there." It noted that in 2002, Rossi's Italian tax form declared earnings of 500 euros, while sponsorship contracts were all reported to be made out to foreign companies, but with his affairs controlled mainly from Italy. In February 2008, Rossi announced that he had reached a settlement with the Italian tax authorities: he paid 35 million Euros to close the tax case.

 Other hobbies

Rossi tries to keep his personal life out of the public eye as much as possible, though he makes no secret of his fondness for Italian football club Inter Milan. After winning his ninth World title in October 2009, Inter congratulated Rossi on their official website.

 Household Pets

Rossi's pet dog was a British bulldog named Guido, which he had from 2000 until 2008. As Rossi travels greatly, Guido lived with Rossi's mother in Tavullia. Guido featured in various pieces of Rossi clothing and merchandise, wearing a prisoner suit during the pre season tests, and when Rossi was lagging 32 points behind in the 2006 championship, Guido was dressed with an Inuit suit. Guido died after the 2008 Australian GP and to pay tribute to him, the new World Champion designed a special sticker made up of Guido sporting a pair of angel wings and floating on celestial clouds. Guido's death garnered so much attention that it was mentioned in Gazzetta dello Sport.
Rossi now has two new dogs (one male and one female), named Cesare and Cecilia. During the Misano GP in 2009, right after Rossi's mistake during Indianapolis, the two dogs were wearing donkey ears on Valentino's helmet.

Helmets

Valentino Rossi has gone through numerous helmet designs throughout his career, most featuring the Sun & Moon motif, signifying (according to Rossi) the two sides of his personality. The artist of Rossi's current helmet graphics is Aldo Drudi.

2004–2005 Seasons

Round 1–5 2006 Season

Round 7–16 2006 Season

Pre-ride rituals

Rossi at the 2010 Qatar Grand Prix.

Rossi is very superstitious and is renowned for his pre-ride rituals. On a race day, he will always watch the beginning of the 125cc race to see how long the starting lights remain lit before going out at the start of the race. Prior to riding (whether racing, qualifying, or practice), he will start his personal ritual by stopping about 2 metres from his bike, bending over and reaching for his boots. Then, when arriving at his bike, he will crouch down and hold the right-side foot-peg, with his head bowed. In an interview, Rossi said "It’s just a moment to focus and ‘talk’ to my bike, like moving from one place to the next." He 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. He also revealed in an interview with MotoGP.com that he always puts one boot on before the other, one glove on before the other, and he always gets on the bike the same way. He also gets off the bike in the same way, swinging his right leg over the front of the bike.

Post MotoGP plans

Rossi tested the Ferrari Formula 1 car in 2006 on January 31, February 1, and February 2 at Valencia. The first test saw Rossi spin out on the damp track into the gravel trap, ending his day. On the second day, he posted the ninth fastest time of fifteen drivers, approximately one second behind Michael Schumacher, who himself was third fastest. Rossi lapped faster than seasoned drivers Red Bull Racing's Mark Webber and David Coulthard and Toyota F1's Jarno Trulli. On the final day of testing, Rossi was just a little more than a half second behind Schumacher's best time. Schumacher hailed Rossi as having immense talent and said he would be perfectly capable of moving to Formula One and being competitive immediately.
On May 24, 2006, Rossi announced that he would be staying in MotoGP until he felt his work on the motorbike was "finished." Ferrari driver Schumacher said that he felt "saddened" by Rossi's decision but supported it. Rossi subsequently signed a new contract with Yamaha for the 2007 and 2008 seasons, then for 2009 and 2010.
Beyond his interest in F1, Rossi's strong passion is for rallying. In Rossi's youth one of his heroes was WRC Champion Colin McRae. Rally legend McRae taught Rossi the basics of driving a rally car. The two competed against each other at Monza in 2005, with McRae driving a Skoda Fabia WRC and Rossi winning in a Subaru Impreza WRC. His first official foray into rallying came in 2002 at WRC Rally Great Britain, in which he crashed out on the second stage (first non-superspecial stage).
On October 11, 2006 it was announced that Rossi would enter that year's Rally New Zealand, a WRC event which was to run from November 17–19. He competed in a Subaru WRC car finishing 11th out of 39. On November 26, 2006 Rossi also won the annual Monza Rally driving a Ford Focus WRC car. He beat the 2005 rally victor Rinaldo Capello by 24 seconds, winning five of the seven stages on his way. He also managed to outpace former WRC Champion Didier Auriol by seven seconds in the head-to-head Master Show final. Rossi also announced at the 2006 Monza rally, that he would be entering the 2007 Rally of Great Britain, however, he later opted out. At the 2007 Monza Rally, Rossi again took first place.
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.
But Rossi decided to remain in Moto-GP; "I have a contract with Yamaha until 2008," said Rossi. "When that finishes then we will see. What I am sure about is that I will ride until I'm 31 or 32 at most. I will look for new stimuli in the next few seasons, but for now I am fully motivated". Rossi signed a new two year contract confirming he will be at Yamaha until 2010. He originally planned to use the Impreza WRC2008 during his participation in the Rally GB in December 2008, but decided to drive a Ford Focus WRC instead. He finished the rally in 12th place, 13 minutes and 20.4 seconds behind eventual winner Sebastian Loeb.
In January 2010, Rossi said that when he retired from motorcycle racing, he hoped to move into rallying. "There are not many changes in a man's body between 22 and 34 so I still have some time left. I would consider shifting to cars, probably rallying, after that before I finally decide to take it easy … I know F1 would've been easier but by the time I finish MotoGP, I will be too old for F1." Stefano Domenicali, Ferrari's Formula One Team principal, however, reasserted his wish to have a third Ferrari on the F1 grid driven by Rossi, whilst confirming that Rossi would test an older Ferrari F1 car on 21 and 22 January 2010.
In March 2010, the Italian minister Franco Frattini government awarded Rossi the first Winning Italy Award for the image he portrays of his country on an international level.

Nicknames

Valentino Rossi has had numerous nicknames during his racing career. His first prominent nickname was "Rossifumi." Rossi explained the etymology of this nickname as a reference and tribute to fellow rider Norifumi Abe.
His next nickname appeared some time around his days racing in the 250 cc World Championship. The nickname "Valentinik" was a reference to the Italian Donald Duck superhero, "Paperinik".
Since his dominance in 500 cc and MotoGP, Rossi has used the nickname "The Doctor." This has been attributed to his "cold and clinical dismantling of his opponents" as well as his cool and calm composure in racing compared to his frenetic days in 125 cc and 250 cc where his performance was erratic and dangerous, resulting in numerous crashes.Two theories prevail as to why Rossi uses "The Doctor." One is that Rossi adopted the nickname upon having earned a degree, which in Italy entitles one to use the title "Doctor". Another, as spoken by Graziano himself, "The Doctor because, I don't think there is a particular reason, but it's beautiful, and is important, The Doctor. And in Italy, The Doctor is a name you give to someone for respect, it's very important, The Doctor... important". Rossi often jokes, however, that the name arrived because in Italy, Rossi is a common surname for Doctors.
He has always raced with the number #46 in his motorcycle grand prix career. Rossi has stated that the original inspiration for this choice of number was the Japanese "wild card" racer Norifumi Abe whom he saw on television speeding past much more seasoned riders in a wet race. He later found out that it was the number his father had raced with in the first of his 3 grand prix career wins, in 1979, in Yugoslavia, on a 250c Morbidelli. Typically, a World Championship winner is awarded the #1 sticker for the next season. However, in a homage to Barry Sheene, who was the first rider of the modern era to keep the same number (#7), Rossi has stayed with the now-famous #46 throughout his career, though he has worn the #1 on the shoulder of his racing leathers.
The text on his helmet refers to the name of his group of friends: "The Tribe of the Chihuahua," and the letters WLF on his leathers stand for "Viva La Figa," Italian for "Long Live Pussy." He has so far escaped any sanctions or ultimatums that he remove the letters because the "W" in "WLF" represents the two "V"s in "ViVa". Equally obvious is his success at escaping any disciplinary action from the FIM or Dorna for having the letters so brazenly on the front neck area of his leathers. He traditionally also incorporates his favorite color (fluorescent yellow) into his leather designs.
Fellow motorcycle racer and former team mate Colin Edwards, as well as some TV journalists, have often referred to him as 'the GOAT' (Greatest of all Time).

Competition

Earlier in his career Max Biaggi was considered Rossi's main rival. At one time his website did not even have Max's name; instead a glaring "XXX XXXXXX" was placed wherever his name should have appeared. Although they had not even raced against each other until 2000, the rivalry between the two had been growing since the mid-'90s. The rivalry died down as Rossi's consecutive World Championships and Biaggi's struggle to find support and a consistent rhythm with his races.
In his autobiography "What If I Had Never Tried It", Rossi makes a number of claims about the reasons for his rivalry with Biaggi, and some of the incidents which led to its escalation. The rivalry was also featured in the 2003 documentary film, Faster.
Rossi's closest rival in the 2003 and 2004 seasons was Sete Gibernau, riding with Team Gresini's Movistar Honda team on a satellite RC211V in 2004 and then on an all but in name factory RC211V, which Gibernau helped to develop, in 2005. Initially they were quite friendly in the paddock and off – Gibernau partied on occasions with Rossi at the Italian's Ibiza villa – but a souring in their relationship began in the 2004 season and culminated in the "Qatar Incident" that same season when Rossi's team was penalized for "cleaning" his grid position to aid in traction, along with Honda Pons' Max Biaggi, and both riders were subsequently forced to start from the back of the grid. A number of teams, including Gibernau's Team Gresini and the official Repsol Honda factory team, appealed successfully to race direction for Rossi to be sanctioned. Rossi and his chief mechanic, Jeremy Burgess, insisted that they were doing nothing more than what many others had done before when faced with a dirty track
Since then the two have not spoken and Rossi seemed to resolve to use the incident to apply psychological pressure on Gibernau. He is said to have sworn that after the Qatar race, which Gibernau won while 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. Gibernau retired from Grand Prix racing after an unsuccessful, injury blighted 2006 season with Ducati and he never won another race after Qatar, prompting some in the Spanish and Italian motorcycle racing media to explain this fact by way of reference to the "Qatar curse." But he returned at the end of 2008, after tests on the 2008 Ducati convinced him that he could still be competitive in MotoGP, and signed to ride a Ducati in 2009.
In 2007, Casey Stoner emerged as a rival for Rossi. Coupled with a Ducati, the young Australian won the first race of the year, followed by many more victories resulting in his claiming of the 2007 MotoGP World Championship title. Stoner's and Rossi's rivalry came to a dramatic climax at Laguna Seca in 2008. After numerous position changes, Rossi overtook Stoner down the corkscrew. The bold move caused Rossi to run wide into the gravel, and his rejoining the track came close to causing a collision between the two riders. A few laps later Stoner went into the gravel on the slow entry into turn 11, yet picked up the bike to finish second while Rossi took the win. After this, Casey Stoner made the comment 'I have lost respect for one of the greatest riders in history'. For the comment, Stoner apologised to Rossi at the next race.
In 2008, Jorge Lorenzo joined Rossi in the factory Yamaha Motor Racing team, which started a new rivalry. After some great battles in 2008 and 2009 where Lorenzo went toe to toe with Rossi, 2010 saw Lorenzo dominate throughout the season to win the championship by amassing the highest points tally in history, scoring 383 points.

MotoGP: Ducati

Rossi during a pre-season test at Sepang in February 2011.

On 15 August 2010, after the Brno race, Rossi confirmed he would ride for Ducati Corse, signing a two year deal starting in 2011. He tested the Desmosedici for the first time in Valencia on 9 November 2010, making his first appearance since 1999, on an Italian motorcycle.