Five-time MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi starts his fifth season with Yamaha

in an unusual position, following what was undoubtedly one of the hardest seasons of his

career. Rossi took four race wins in 2007 and several podiums, but his prodigious talents

were limited by technical and tyre problems as well as plain bad luck. The Italian missed

out on the runner-up spot in the championship by just one point after his final race was

wrecked by injury and third place was his lowest championship finish since his rookie

year in 1996. 2008 will see Rossi hungry to win back the title he previously made his own

for five years as he sets out on a new chapter in his career, having made the switch to

Bridgestone tyres.

Born in Urbino, Italy on 16th February 1979, Rossi was riding bikes from an early age

thanks to the influence of his father Graziano, himself a former Grand Prix winner.

Following an early start in go-karts, Rossi junior progressed to minimotos and quickly

showed a talent for two-wheels, becoming regional champion in 1992. The next few years

saw him quickly rise up through ranks of junior road racing, claiming the Italian Sport

Production Championship in 1994 and the Italian 125cc Championship in 1995. The

latter, twinned with an impressive 3rd place in the 125cc European Championship, was

enough to secure him a ride in the World Championship the following year.

Rossi`s World Championship debut came at the Malaysian Grand Prix in 1996 and he

finished his first international season in 9th place with one race win. The following year he

became the youngest ever rider to win the 125cc World Championship, winning eleven

races along the way with Aprilia. The pattern continued when he moved into the 250cc

class, taking second place in his first year before becoming World Champion in 1999,

once again with Aprilia.

In 2000 he entered a new phase of his career when he joined forces with Honda in the

500cc class. He proved his worth once again by finishing second, before becoming the

last ever 500cc World Champion in 2001. Rossi subsequently took the MotoGP World title

in 2002 and 2003, before moving to Yamaha and winning it again in 2004 and 2005.

Rossi made history by moving to Yamaha in 2004 and winning the season-opening Grand

Prix in South Africa, becoming the first rider in the history of the sport to win back-to-back

premier class races for different manufacturers. He went on to win nine out of 16 races,

finally clinching the World Championship title, Yamaha`s first for 12 years, with victory at

the penultimate Grand Prix in Phillip Island. A final win at the Valencia Grand Prix also

ensured that the Yamaha Factory Team won the team title.

He dominated the 2005 season, winning eleven races in total, taking five pole positions

and only finishing off the podium once. In doing he became one of only five riders in

the history of the sport to win the premier-class title on five occasions. He also helped

Yamaha to win the Manufacturers’ and Team titles, ensuring Yamaha celebrated its 50th

Anniversary with one of its best ever years in Grand Prix.

2006 saw him finish World Champion runner-up for only the second time in his premierclass

career, having lost the title to Honda’s Nicky Hayden by just five points following a

final-race showdown in Valencia. Despite this, Rossi still took five race wins and five pole

positions in 2006, more than any other rider, and stood on the podium ten times.

He turns 29 in February 2008 and remains the youngest rider to have won World

Championships in all three classes. He continues to have the support of his long-standing

Crew Chief, Jeremy Burgess, who moved from Honda to work with him at Yamaha Factory

Racing in 2004.

One of the most popular members of the paddock, ‘The Doctor` has a wide fan base

all over the world. A keen football fan and an accomplished rally driver, He is based in

London between races.