5th August 2021, on the eve of the Styrian GP in Austria, Valentino Rossi, 9-times Grand Prix World Champion, announced his retirement from Moto GP.
Riding a motorbike came at an extremely young age to Valentino. His dad, Graziano Rossi, was a motorcycle racer, and that’s where he took a liking towards the sport. However, his mother insisted on competing in karting, citing the safety concerns with riding a bike.
Speed came naturally to Rossi. All he wanted was to be faster than everyone else and win races. Whether it be karting, mini-biking, or riding a Moto GP bike, he had the same attitude and desire to win, something that has stayed with him all through his career.
He won the 1990 regional karting championship. Competing at a higher degree of difficulty and racing in the European Championships seemed like the right option, which eventually would’ve pushed him towards competing in Formula 1 someday. However, the financial costs of karting were too much to bear for his family, and he shifted his focus to minimoto racing.
Pre-Moto GP Era
Valentino got his hands on a 125cc bike for the first time in 1993. He soon started competing for Cagiva in the Italian Sport Production Championship. The first season didn’t quite go as per his liking. He managed to cap it off with a pole position in the final race of the season. Later that weekend, he also grabbed his first-ever podium finish.
The switch to Aprilia in 1995 allowed him to compete at a much higher level. He won the Italian 125cc Championship that year and also finished third in the European Championship.
Rossi made his Grand Prix racing debut in 1996 and his first season was quite a mixed bag. He finished in points on multiple occasions, but the podium finish somehow eluded him during the first half of the season. The 1996 Czech Republic Grand Prix turned out to be a breakthrough weekend for Rossi as he grabbed his first-ever pole position and race victory. The season had a lot of retirements and mid-table finishes. Rossi finished in ninth place overall, collecting a total of 111 points.
Valentino won the 1997 title in some style, winning 11 out of the 15 races and, finishing with 325 points.
The following year saw him move to the 250cc Championship, where he dominated the category from the word go. He finished his rookie season in second place, just 23 points behind the eventual winner Loris Capirossi. In his second season, he scored 309 points and won the championship with a round to spare. That was his second title overall, which also earned him a move to the 500cc World Championship.
It was Honda who offered Rossi a seat to compete in the 500cc World Championship in 2000. Rossi was always on Honda’s radar, even before he drove in the 125cc category. His mindset, the pre-race routine, and most importantly, his relationship with the whole crew impressed everyone at Honda, and they finally decided to invest in the young rider. Rossi took some time to get settled into the new environment. He finally had his moment in the tenth race of the season in England. Having qualified seventh, choosing a correct set of tires allowed him to storm through the field and fight for the win. There was no looking back after that, and he eventually finished second in the championship.
Valentino Rossi was a beast on the track in his second year in the 500cc category. He recorded 11 wins, finished off the podium only thrice, and beat his nearest rival Max Biaggi, by 106 points.
Start of the Moto GP Era
The inaugural year of the Moto GP bikes was in 2002, which were the 990cc four-stroke machines. Rossi was coming hot off his recent victory in the 500cc class and continued his decent run of form with a win in the opening race in Japan.
The season was far from easy for most teams and riders, as the switch to a new engine took some time to get familiar with. Rossi claimed victories in eight out of the first nine races, finishing with 11 wins throughout the season. It proved to be his second premier class title and a fourth overall.
Rossi’s domination continued in the following season, where he won his second consecutive Moto GP title with two races to spare. He capped off the season with three back-to-back poles and race-wins, finishing well beyond the rest of the competition.
Move to Yamaha
After the conclusion of the 2003 Moto GP Championship, talks about the Honda RC211V being the reason behind Rossi’s dominance started making rounds in the media, which resulted in him not signing a new contract with the Japanese team.
A dream connection with Italian manufacturers Ducati was deemed possible by the media, but Rossi eventually signed with Yamaha, who offered him a two-year contract.
It was one of the most anticipated seasons, and many doubted whether Rossi could win the championship with Yamaha.
Despite all the adversity in the media, Rossi made a strong start to the season by taking the pole and race-win in South Africa. He also became the only rider to win back-to-back races for two different manufacturers in the Moto GP. He had two DNFs to his name throughout the season, and the race in Spain also saw an end to his 23-race podium streak. Barring a few occasions like these, Rossi was dominant for most of the season and eventually claimed his third Moto GP title. He finished with a total of 304 points, thus also silencing his critics.
The combination of Rossi and Yamaha became even more lethal in 2005, starting with a pole and race-win in Spain. He amassed 367 points that year, beating his nearest rival, Marco Melandri, by 147 points.
Rossi was again a favorite to win the title in 2006. Marco Melandri, Nicky Hayden, and Dani Pedrosa were also in contention for the title. It proved to be a very close season at the top, and the title fight was well and truly open going into the final round of the Championship. Rossi needed to finish second or higher to claim another title and started the weekend well with a pole at the Valencian Community Road. A poor start in the race meant he fell to 7th and eventually finished in the 13th position. He finished with 247 points that year which didn’t prove to be enough, as Nicky Hayden and Honda won the title by just five points.
The following season in 2007 proved to be a little difficult for Rossi due to numerous crashes and retirements. It was also when Casey Stoner announced himself as a strong title contender. Stoner took the title home taking ten victories in total. Rossi eventually finished third in the Championship, behind Dani Pedrosa in second and Casey Stoner, the eventual winner.
The Comeback to the Top
The 2006 and 2007 seasons proved to be very frustrating for Valentino. Many even questioned whether he could win another premier class title.
Rossi started the season with a fifth-place finish in Qatar, but then his title challenge picked up the steam, which proved too hot to handle for Casey Stoner. Rossi claimed his fifth Moto GP title after finishing with a total of 373 points.
He continued his hot streak in 2009, claiming 306 points in total to win his sixth Moto GP and overall his ninth title, making him the undisputed king of the Moto GP world.
Rossi couldn’t defend his title a year after and finished third overall, eventually calling it quits with Yamaha and secured a move to Ducati.
The much-anticipated move to Ducati didn’t prove to be anywhere near as expected for The Doctor. Rossi finished seventh and sixth in his two years at the Italian outfit.
Rossi returned to Yamaha in 2013 and would compete for them till the end of the 2020 season. He couldn’t win another Moto GP title in his second tenure for Yamaha but came close on several occasions.
He finished second thrice in a row from 2014-2016, and the closest title fight of them all was in 2015 when he finished just five points behind Jorge Lorenzo.
At the end of the 2020 season, Rossi announced his move to Petronas Yamaha SRT for the 2021 season, where he’s racing alongside his VR46 academy member Franco Morbidelli.
VR46 Academy
Rossi was always more than just a great rider. His understanding of the bike and the engines, his relationship with his team and the mechanics, and above all his passion for the sport, made him the champion that he is today. Another aspect that makes him stand out is he’s always looking to share knowledge with the youngsters and is keen to give something back to society.
Valentino founded the Sky Racing Team VR46 in 2014 and signed them with the Moto3 World Championship. Francesco Bagnaia was one of the two riders they had in the first year, who’s now competing for the factory Ducati team. The VR46 team also opened up a possibility to compete in Moto2 World Championship from 2017 and have had successful spells so far.
I did something in the first part of my career that inspired emotion in normal people. This is something I’m very proud of!
Most of the Moto GP riders today have grown up watching Rossi win multiple World Championships. 2021 Championship leader Fabio Quartararo wasn’t even born when Vale already had two titles to his name. He’s more than an idol for them, someone they all looked up to and strived to be like.
People admire him for being humble and down to earth, even after ruling the Moto GP world for more than 20 years. Alex Briggs, a Moto GP mechanic who worked closely with Rossi all these years, claims that Rossi is just like all of us, a caring friend off the track and an immensely fierce competitor when he’s on the bike.
“What we see on TV is 95% of Rossi”, he says when asked about Rossi’s personality.
The legacy that Rossi is leaving behind is truly remarkable. Without a doubt, he’s one of the finest sportspersons the world has ever witnessed.
Many people in the world have no idea what Moto GP is, but they know Valentino Rossi. Whenever someone rides their bike too fast on the road, people ask them not to imitate Rossi. It is the kind of impact he has had on people all around the world, and it’s something he’s extremely proud of. Rossi will retire at the end of this season, but his legacy will live on forever.
It’s a great pleasure for us fans to witness the great man go about his business as he’s preparing for the final half-season of his Moto GP career. I wish him nothing but the best with everything he chooses to do after retirement. For all the things he has done for the sport and the fans over the years, all I can say is Grazie Valentino!