Valentino Rossi is born in Urbino, in Marche region of Italy.
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 the path of 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. Then riding for Honda he won the 500cc World Championship 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 announced he was leaving Yamaha to join Ducati, the news of which was greeted with cheers throughout his homeland, for the 2011 season, but, alas, the excitement was short-lived as it was confirmed in 2012 that he would rejoin Yamaha for the 2013 and 2014 seasons.
Valentino Rossi is first in all-time 500 cc/MotoGP race wins standings, with 79 victories, and his 105 all-time overall wins standings are second only to Giacomo Agostini's 122.
Rossi at the 2006 Italian Grand Prix
