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79-529: It is mainly known as a ski resort during the winter months and as a popular touristic destination in the summer. In January 2017 Valentino Rossi became Honorary Resident of the town. This Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Valentino Rossi Italian motorcycle road racer Family Eponyms Valentino Rossi ( / ˈ r ɒ s i / ROSS -ee , Italian: [valenˈtiːno ˈrossi] ; born 16 February 1979)

158-514: A 2010 season marred by a broken leg and no title defence, he left Yamaha to join the Ducati factory team, replacing Casey Stoner for the 2011 and 2012 seasons, and endured two winless seasons with the Italian marque. Rossi returned to Yamaha in 2013 and finished fourth in the standings followed by three successive runner-up positions in 2014 , 2015 and 2016 . His best chance of winning

237-692: A 29-point advantage over Biaggi) and Portugal . He had another disappointing result in the Valencian Community round when he finished in 11th place, but then scored a string of race wins from the Pacific to the Rio rounds. Rossi won his first 500cc title with 325 points and third title overall, 106 points ahead of Biaggi, who became Rossi's main rival during the season. During the season, Rossi also teamed up with American rider Colin Edwards for

316-509: A BMW M4 GT3, which also bears the now iconic number 46. Rossi was born in Urbino , in the Marche region of Italy. While he was a child, his family moved to Tavullia . The son of former motorcycle racer Graziano Rossi , he began riding at a very young age. Rossi's first racing love, however, was kart racing . Fuelled by his mother, Stefania's, concern for her son's safety, Graziano purchased

395-588: A crash. Rossi won the Rio round. However, it was Kenny Roberts Jr. who clinched the 2000 title after finishing in sixth position, which gave him an unassailable lead in the championship. After his second 500cc win, Rossi went on to finish second in the Pacific race and third in the Australian races. He finished second in his rookie season in the 500cc class with 209 points. Rossi dominated his second season in

474-500: A factory Mito by Lusuardi and won the Italian title. In 1994, Rossi raced in the Italian 125 CC Championship with a prototype called Sandroni, using a Rotax engine. The bike was built by Guido Mancini, a former rider and mechanic who had worked, in the past, with Loris Capirossi . A documentary about Mancini, called "Mancini, the Motorcycle Wizard" (Il Mago Mancini), was released in 2016 by director Jeffrey Zani and explains

553-514: A failed overtaking attempt. This was the only time he failed to make the podium that season. After Motegi , Rossi scored a podium in the form of second place in Malaysia and back-to-back wins in Qatar and Australia , beating Nicky Hayden for the victory. He finished the season with a second and third-place finish in the inaugural Turkish and the Valencian Community rounds. Rossi finished

632-558: A handful of 5th places, including one in his "home" race in the San Marino race. He finished the disappointing year in just 12th place, with 81 points. Migno won his home Grand Prix in Mugello, and finished the season in 9th place with 118 points. In 2018 , Bulega was initially confirmed (then replaced by Celestino Vietti due to injury) and Dennis Foggia was named as second rider. Bulega's first five 2018 races were even worse than

711-489: A kart as a substitute for the bike. However, the Rossi family trait of perpetually wanting to go faster prompted a redesign; Graziano replaced the 60 cc motor with a 100 cc national kart motor for his then 5-year-old son. Rossi won the regional kart championship in 1990. After this, he took up minimoto and, before the end of 1991, had won numerous regional races. Rossi continued to race karts and finished fifth at

790-465: A significant way to go before being competitive even with Rossi at the helm. This proved to be the truth with Ducati's lacklustre performance in the 2004 season, which had actually been worse than their inaugural year in MotoGP in 2003. In his 2005 autobiography, What If I'd Never Tried It? , Rossi offered another reason for choosing Yamaha over Ducati, saying that the mindset at Ducati Corse was similar to

869-495: A tenth title came in 2015, where he led the standings for most of the season, finishing five points behind team-mate Jorge Lorenzo , the eventual champion. 2017 was the final season in which he achieved over 200 championship points, and he won his final race victory in the 2017 Dutch TT at the age of 38. After three winless seasons with the Yamaha factory team, he moved to Petronas SRT for 2021, retiring after only one season with

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948-566: A third podium at Sachsenring , finishing 3rd behind Franco Morbidelli who won the race and Miguel Oliveira who came in second. At Misano , Bagnaia originally finished the race 4th behind Dominique Aegerter , Thomas Lüthi , and Hafizh Syahrin - however Aegerter was later disqualified, promoting Bagnaia to his fourth podium of the season. He was crowned Moto2 Rookie of the year after the Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi , and finished his rookie season with 174 points to place 5th in

1027-419: Is an Italian racing driver, former professional motorcycle road racer and nine-time Grand Prix motorcycle racing World Champion. Nicknamed The Doctor , Rossi is widely considered one of the greatest motorcycle racers of all time. He is also the only road racer to have competed in 400 or more Grands Prix. Of Rossi's nine Grand Prix World Championships, seven were in the premier 500cc/MotoGP class . He holds

1106-403: Is considered by many observers to be one of Rossi's greatest career moments due to the unique circumstances. After being given a ten-second penalty for overtaking Marco Melandri under yellow flags due to a crash by Ducati rider Troy Bayliss , front runner Rossi pulled away from the rest of the field after being informed of the penalty, eventually finishing more than 15 seconds ahead, overcoming

1185-562: The 2017 season. In a year in which previous Rookie of the Year title rival Joan Mir won the Moto3 championship, Bulega struggled to follow up his debut season. Beluga'S difficulties included bad qualifying strategies and poor race starts (his height being a primary factor). His best result on the year was a 4th place finish in Germany, one of the few times he was able to qualify on the top six, and

1264-602: The Australian and Valencian Community rounds, battling with the likes of Troy Bayliss, Nicky Hayden, Makoto Tamada and Max Biaggi to take his ninth victory of the year. Rossi finished first with 304 points to Gibernau's 257, with Max Biaggi third with 217 points. He clinched his third MotoGP, fourth top class and sixth overall championship in the penultimate race of the season in Phillip Island , beating Gibernau by just 0.097 seconds to do so. In 2005, Rossi and

1343-615: The Czech Republic , first in Portugal and second once again in Japan . In the inaugural Qatar round, controversy arose when Rossi's team was penalised by starting in the back of the grid for grid cleaning. Gibernau won the race, whilst Rossi crashed out of the race when he was in sixth position. Despite this second DNF of the season, Rossi scored a pole that he converted into a win in Malaysia and two more regular victories in

1422-562: The MotoGP category with Ducati motorcycles chassis, under the name Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team . The team manager is the former road racer Pablo Nieto . The team has to date collected 31 race wins (9 in Moto3, 19 in Moto2 and 3 in MotoGP), one riders' championship (with Francesco Bagnaia in Moto2 in 2018 ), and one teams' championship (Moto2 in 2020 ). The team was founded in 2014 by

1501-532: The Rio de Janeiro race, Rossi crashed out when he lost the front of his M1 and slid into the gravel whilst battling with Makoto Tamada , Max Biaggi, Nicky Hayden and Alex Barros , forcing him to retire from the race. After the Rio round, Rossi found himself off the podium once more in fourth place in the German GP but bounced back by winning the British round from pole. He then went on to finish second in

1580-540: The Rio de Janeiro rounds. He finished second in the Pacific GP after a mistake made him run off into the gravel and relegated him to ninth, which made it impossible for him to catch race winner Biaggi in the closing laps. Rossi ended his season in style by scoring three consecutive poles and race wins in the Malaysian , Australian and Valencian Community rounds. The Australian Grand Prix in Phillip Island

1659-638: The Spanish to the German rounds, including two pole positions in the Dutch and British GPs. His only retirement of the season was from the Czech Republic round. He then had back-to-back wins in Portugal and Rio , two second-place finishes in the Pacific and Malaysia , another victory in Australia and a second-place finish in the final race in the Valencian Community . Rossi went on to win eight of

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1738-454: The Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race aboard a Honda VTR1000SPW , becoming the first Italian rider to win the race. The pair won the race despite Rossi's lack of experience racing superbikes . In 2002, 500cc two-strokes were still allowed, but saw the beginning of the 990cc four-stroke MotoGP class, after which the 500cc machines essentially became obsolete. The inaugural year for the MotoGP bikes

1817-637: The 500cc class, scoring 11 wins and only finishing off the podium three times. He started the year off with a victory in Japan after battling with Max Biaggi. He then achieved back-to-back poles and race wins in the South African and Spanish rounds. He finished the French race in third place but crashed out of the Italian round whilst leading the wet race after taking another pole on Saturday. Rossi bounced back by taking pole position and winning

1896-441: The 8 Hours of Suzuka with Honda in 2001. He also won MotoGP World Championships with the factory Repsol Honda team in 2002 and 2003 and continued his run of back-to-back championships by winning the 2004 and 2005 titles after leaving Honda to join Yamaha. He lost the 2006 title with a crash in the final round at Valencia. In 2007, he ultimately finished third overall, before regaining the title in 2008 and retaining it in 2009. After

1975-685: The AGV team to the official Nastro Azzurro Aprilia Team and went on to dominate the season. He immediately started with a pole and race win at the 1997 Malaysian Grand Prix but retired from the next race in Japan. In the next two races, he bounced back by winning the Spanish and Italian rounds. Rossi finished second in Austria, just 0.004 seconds behind winner Noboru Ueda , then scored a flurry of victories from France to Britain, including three pole positions in

2054-687: The British Grand Prix in the last lap. Followed by a crash in Aragon , On his birthday Bulega finished the Japanese grand Prix at fourth place and set the fastest lap. But after the third place holder Hiroki Ono was disqualified Bulega was awarded third place. Both in Australia and Malaysia Bulega crashed in the opening lap. His last three crashes in Aragon, Australia and Malaysia was because of

2133-555: The Cagiva team, he damaged his motorcycle in a first-corner crash no more than a hundred metres from the pit lane. He finished ninth in that race weekend. Although his first season in the Italian Sport Production Championship was varied, he achieved a pole position in the season's final race at Misano , where he would ultimately finish on the podium. By the second year, Rossi had been provided with

2212-630: The Catalan round. He gained more points by finishing sixth in the 2000 Dutch TT . It took nine races before Rossi won on the Honda, but his first 500cc victory came after a fierce battle with the Suzuki of Kenny Roberts Jr. and the Aprilia of Jeremy McWilliams . On a track that was affected by ever-changing weather conditions and despite only qualifying in seventh position on Saturday, the Italian chose

2291-554: The Dutch, Imola and German rounds. After third place in the Czech round, Rossi then gained two more wins in the Catalan and Indonesian races. He finished sixth in Australia. He won the 1997 125cc title, winning 11 of the 15 races with 321 points. Throughout the season, he dressed up as Robin Hood and carried a blow-up doll on a few occasions. His fun-loving character gained him many fans at

2370-761: The Factory Yamaha team proved to be even more dominant than the year before. Rossi immediately began the season by capturing pole and winning the first round in Spain in a controversial manner, colliding with the Gresini Honda of Sete Gibernau on the last lap. He scored a second-place finish in Portugal but then went on to take five consecutive victories from the Chinese to the Dutch rounds, including three pole positions in France , Italy and Assen . In

2449-540: The Madrid round. He scored his first victory at the 1998 Dutch TT , when he was more than 19 seconds ahead of second-placed Jürgen Fuchs . He had to retire from the British Grand Prix but bounced back by achieving a podium place in Germany, finishing third. In the Czech Republic, he crashed out of the race, but then enjoyed a flurry of victories from Imola to Argentina. He finished the season, his rookie year in

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2528-547: The Moto2 Championship, scoring points in 16 of the 18 races. Manzi finished the season in 25th place with 14 points. In 2018 , Bagnaia was confirmed to continue with the team and Luca Marini , Rossi's half-brother, was selected as second rider. Bagnaia opened the season with a win in Qatar , having led the race from start to finish. Bagnaia took a second win in Austin after a hard fight with Álex Márquez , winning

2607-503: The MotoGP class with the Spanish team and Esponsorama to expand their Moto3 operations with KTM machinery made available by VR46's departure. In 2017 , the team decided to take part in the Moto2 class also and selected Bagnaia and Stefano Manzi as riders. In just his fourth-ever Moto2 race at Jerez , Bagnaia finished 2nd. He finished 2nd in the next race as well at Le Mans , after having qualified in 2nd place and missing pole position to Thomas Lüthi by just 0.026 seconds. Bagnaia took

2686-547: The Saturday, and his first ever race victory in the 125cc class on the Sunday. He rode an AGV Aprilia RS125R and won after another tussle with Jorge Martínez. Rossi earned more points at Imola but was forced to retire in both the Catalan and Rio rounds. He scored points in the final round in Australia, finishing his first season in ninth place with 111 points. In his second year, the 1997 championship season , he moved from

2765-713: The Sky VR46 name and livery. Beginning in 2022 , the VR46 team entered the MotoGP championship in their own right, taking over the grid slots from Esponsorama Racing who left the premier class after 10 seasons. The team has signed a contract with Ducati for the use of their satellite machinery until at least the end of 2024. Title sponsorship of the team will be fulfilled by the Mooney Group, an Italian fintech joint venture between energy concern Enel and banking group Intesa Sanpaolo . The team will make their debut in

2844-508: The VR46 team terminated their contract with Romano for the 2016 and 2017 seasons, stating behavioural issues in conflict with team policy as the reason behind the split. Bulega started the season with sixth place at Qatar. At his fifth race in Moto3, Bulega achieved his first Grand Prix podium at Jerez with 2nd-place finish having started from pole position, which was his first pole position in Grand Prix. Bulega's first fastest lap came at

2923-472: The birth of the motorcycle and the relationship between Rossi and the mechanic. In 1995, Rossi switched to Aprilia and won the Italian 125 CC Championship. He was third in the European Championship. The 1996 championship season marked the debut of Rossi, then 17, in Grand Prix motorcycle racing. He had some success in his first year, scoring consistent points and sometimes finishing just off

3002-498: The class with riders Luca Marini and Marco Bezzecchi . In this season, Luca Marini riding with a Ducati Desmosedici GP22 bike, while Marco Bezzecchi riding with a Ducati Desmosedici GP21 bike. For the 2023 season, the team continued with both Luca Marini and Marco Bezzecchi. They will both use the Ducati Desmosedici GP22 citing having more data by using a year old bike is useful. Bezzecchi managed to fight for

3081-566: The class, as the championship runner-up with 201 points, just 23 behind champion Loris Capirossi. In the 1999 season , his second year in the 250cc class, Rossi became the sole driver of the official Aprilia Grand Prix Racing team, and dominated the championship. He began with a pole position in Malaysia but finished fifth on race day. He gained further points in Japan and went on to win the third round in Spain. Rossi had his second pole position of

3160-468: The end of the season. Mid-season rumours pointed towards a possible move to Ducati, which sent the Italian press into a frenzy; the concept of Rossi on the great Italian bike seemed too good to be true. Ducati did indeed try to seduce Rossi into riding their MotoGP bike, the Desmosedici , but for numerous reasons Rossi passed the offer up. Critics say that compared to the other manufacturers, Ducati had

3239-462: The expense of the VR46 entry, The partnership will be already operational from the race at Silverstone 2022, where the Fantic brand appeared on the motorcycles of Celestino Vietti Ramus and Niccolò Antonelli. In 2021 , Luca Marini made his MotoGP debut, as VR46 and Esponsorama Racing came to an agreement where Esponsorama would organize the racing operations for an entry under the Italian flag and

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3318-493: The fellow riders. Despite qualifying 4th, Bulega started the final race at Valencia in 16th place due to a twelve-place grid penalty and finished the race in 17th, losing the Rookie of the Year title to Joan Mir . Bulega finished the championship in 7th place with 129 points. Migno achieved two 3rd place finishes (Assen and Valencia) and finished the season in 17th placeoverall with 63 points. Both Migno and Bulega were retained for

3397-512: The final race of the previous season on his Honda bike. Rossi took another pole in Spain but his fourth-place finish on Sunday saw the end of a 23-race podium streak. He once again had to miss out on the podium in France but responded with three consecutive victories in Italy , Catalunya and the Netherlands , a race that he won from pole after a hard-fought battle with Gibernau. In

3476-408: The finish line after a titanic battle between the two. After Germany, Rossi won three more races and scored two more poles: a pole position converted into a victory came in the Czech Republic where he battled with championship rival Gibernau once more, Rossi overtaking him on the final lap to take victory by just 0.042 seconds. A regular victory came in Portugal and another pole-victory came in

3555-546: The first United States round since 1994, Rossi struggled and finish in third place whilst local hero Nicky Hayden won the race. Rossi bounced back by picking up three more wins, starting from a pole-victory in a rainy Great Britain and two regular victories in Germany , holding off Gibernau on the last lap, and the Czech Republic . Rossi's crashed out of the Japanese round when he collided with Marco Melandri during

3634-414: The first nine races of the season, eventually claiming 11 victories in total. He clinched his second title in the Rio de Janeiro race, his first in the inaugural class, and fourth title overall with four races remaining. After a strong 2002, Rossi continued to dominate in 2003 despite competition from emerging Spaniard Sete Gibernau . Rossi took pole and won the first round of the season in Japan , but

3713-527: The following race in Catalunya , despite making a poor start that dropped him to 15th place at the end of the first lap. He scored a second place after narrowly losing out on the race victory with Biaggi in the Dutch round. He followed this up with another win: this time the British GP. Rossi finished a disappointing seventh in Germany but then took back-to-back wins in the Czech Republic (gaining

3792-399: The last corner. At Brno , Bagnaia finished third and lost the championship lead to Oliveira. He retook the championship lead at Austria , winning his fifth race of the season. Bagnaia won his sixth race of the season at Misano from pole position. He took a fifth-straight podium at Buriram , winning the race with his teammate Luca Marini in second place. He took his eighth and final win of

3871-421: The last lap. He won in Italy and came second again in Catalunya . He took two third-place finishes in the Dutch and British rounds – the latter the result of a ten-second penalty for overtaking under yellow flags, gifting victory to Max Biaggi in the process – and another second place in Germany , once again battling Gibernau who denied him victory with just 0.060 seconds separating both when they crossed

3950-533: The national kart championships in Parma . Both he and his father thought about transitioning to the Italian 100cc series and the European series, which could have potentially directed him toward Formula One . However, the high costs associated with kart racing led them to choose to focus solely on racing minimotos. Through 1992 and 1993, Valentino continued to learn the ins and outs of minimoto racing. In 1993, Rossi

4029-513: The nine time world champion Valentino Rossi and entered the Moto3 World Championship as Sky Racing Team VR46 , with the goal of promoting young Italian talent in response to the massive influx of Spanish riders in Grand Prix racing since the turn of the century. In the team's first year they choose Romano Fenati and Francesco Bagnaia as riders with Rossi's former Cagiva teammate Vittoriano Guareschi as team manager. It

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4108-517: The one he was trying to escape from at Honda. Ultimately, Rossi signed a two-year contract with rivals Yamaha reportedly worth in excess of US$ 12 million; a price no other manufacturer, even Honda, was willing to pay. Rossi made the switch from Honda to Yamaha and signed a two-year contract with the team. Many doubted his move and would expect Biaggi, who joined the Honda Pons team a year earlier, as well as Gibernau to be genuine contenders for

4187-462: The penalty and winning the race. Rossi won the 2003 title in Malaysia, his third in the top class and fifth title overall, with two races remaining. He won the final race in the Valencian Community round with a special livery, this race marking his final win for Honda. With increased scepticism that the reason for his success was the dominance of the RC211V rather than Rossi, they parted ways at

4266-569: The podium in his races from Malaysia to Italy, but he retired in both the French and Dutch rounds. He scored more points by finishing fifth in Germany, but suffered another retirement in the British round. At the 1996 Austrian Grand Prix , Rossi achieved his first ever podium by finishing in third place after battling with Jorge Martínez . In the following race, the 1996 Czech Republic Grand Prix , he achieved both his first ever pole position , on

4345-457: The previous year's. He retired in the first four races and finished only on the fifth race, with a 17th place in Spain, being one of the two regular drivers to never score points in the first five races of the year. Both Vietti and Foggia achieved a third place as best result of the season. In 2019 , Vietti and Foggia were confirmed as regular riders. Vietti achieved three podiums (Spain, Catalonia and Japan), one pole and one fastest lap, finishing

4424-460: The race from pole position and leading the entire race. After qualifying 3rd on the grid in Sachsenring , Bagnaia finished the race in 12th place, having been forced outside of the track after Mattia Pasini fell in front of him in the last corner on the second lap. Despite being down to 26th position, Bagnaia still made up fourteen places, including overtaking Álex Márquez on the final lap in

4503-440: The race was marred by the death of Japanese rider Daijiro Kato who crashed in the 130R and hit the barrier at high speed in the ensuing Casio Triangle. Rossi finished second in the South African round before winning again in Spain , despite falling back to ninth place on the opening lap. Rossi scored three pole positions in the next three races and finished second in France after battling with Gibernau, who overtook him on

4582-418: The race with a gap of 2.4 seconds and also setting the fastest lap of the race. At Jerez , Bagnaia finished 3rd behind Lorenzo Baldassarri and Miguel Oliveira , holding his starting grid position. Bagnaia took his first pole position in Moto2 at Le Mans , like the race in Qatar he led from start to finish. The win was also his third podium at Le Mans since 2015. Bagnaia took a fourth win at Assen , again

4661-408: The race. Bagnaia missed the races at Assen and Sachsenring due to injury. After scoring 42 points in the first 7 races of the campaign, Bagnaia slumped badly during the second part of the season, only finishing in the points twice of the last nine races, clearly affected by his injury. He finished the season in 16th position with 50 points. In 2015 , Andrea Migno replaced Bagnaia and Guareschi

4740-415: The record for most premier class victories and podiums, with 89 victories and 199 podiums to his name. He won premier class World Championships with both Honda and Yamaha . He rode with the number 46 for his entire career. After graduating to the premier class in 2000, Rossi won the final 500cc World Championship (becoming the last satellite rider to win the top-class title until Jorge Martín in 2024) and

4819-479: The riders' championship. In 2021 , Bezzecchi was joined by Celestino Vietti coming from the Moto3 team. With one race win and seven podiums from Bezzecchi and regular points finishes from Vietti, VR46 achieved 3rd place in the teams' championship. Vietti was paired with Niccolò Antonelli for 2022 . Vietti took his first Moto2 class win at the season opener in Qatar. From 2023 , Fantic will be its own team at

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4898-521: The right tyres and stormed through the field to battle with Roberts Jr. and McWilliams and win his first race in the 500cc class. After his victory in Donington Park , Rossi went on to score consecutive podium places in the next three races: two second-place finishes in Germany and the Czech Republic and one third-place finish in Portugal. He retired from the Valencian Community round after

4977-456: The satellite Yamaha team and failing to achieve a podium for the first time in a career spanning 26 seasons in Grands Prix. The dominant force in MotoGP in the 2000s, all of Rossi's seven premier class titles came in this decade, including 77 race wins and 48 pole positions. In the ensuing 12 seasons, he managed 12 race wins and seven pole positions. During this period, Rossi was the 6th most successful rider in terms of total race victories. Rossi

5056-626: The season 6th with 135 points. Foggia reached a third place in Aragon as best result and a fastest lap in Netherland, finishing the season 12th with 97 points. Andrea Migno returned to the squad to partner Vietti for 2020 . With two race wins and four podiums for Vietti and regular points-scoring finishes for Migno, the team finished 3rd in the teams' championship. The VR46 team left the Moto3 class after 2020, citing 'a lack of Italian talent' available between many Italian Moto3 teams (such as Gresini , Sic58 , Snipers, and Max Racing), and an agreement with Esponsorama Racing which would see Sky VR46 enter

5135-445: The season at Motegi , after Fabio Quartararo (who initially won the race) was disqualified due to low tyre pressure. After finishing 3rd at Sepang , Bagnaia was crowned Moto2 World Champion with his twelfth podium of the season. Marini achieved his first podium in Germany and his first victory in Malaysia, concluding the season in 7th place with 147 points. The VR46 team finished the teams' championship in 2nd place. In 2019 , Marini

5214-611: The season in France, but retired from the race. He bounced back with back-to-back wins in Italy and Catalunya. He finished second at the Dutch round, narrowly losing out to Capirossi. He then won the next three races from the British to the Czech Grands Prix. Rossi finished second in Imola, but was off the podium in eighth place at Valencia. He finished the season strongly with three more wins: one in Australia, where he fought hard against Olivier Jacque , one in South Africa, and one in Rio de Janeiro. After that, he finished third in Argentina despite starting in pole position. He actually won

5293-542: The season in first place with a total of 367 points, 147 points ahead of second-place finisher Marco Melandri and captured his fourth MotoGP, fifth top class and seventh overall championship in Sepang with four races remaining. He won 11 races including wins in three rain-affected races in Shanghai , Le Mans and Donington . Sky Racing Team VR46 The VR46 Racing Team is a motorcycle racing team owned by Valentino Rossi and based in Tavullia ( Marche , Italy). The team enters Grand Prix motorcycle racing in

5372-485: The season in the United States . He was seventh at Jerez , before a second-place finish at Le Mans , losing out to Brad Binder by 0.099 seconds. Fenati qualified on pole at Mugello , but failed to finish the race. He was fourth in both Catalunya and Netherlands , before a pointless 18 position in Germany . Fenati was dropped by Sky Racing VR46 in Austria as a disciplinary action for a disagreement with Uccio Salucci, team manager and close friend of Rossi. On 16 August,

5451-402: The standings. Migno finished the season in 19th with 35 points. In 2016 , both Fenati and Migno were confirmed and a third bike was given to Nicolò Bulega , but Fenati was fired after ten races and replaced by Lorenzo Dalla Porta . Fenati started the 2016 season with a pole position at Qatar , however he only managed 4th in the race. He finished in 20th in Argentina , before his first win of

5530-458: The time and in future seasons. After winning the 125cc title in 1997, Rossi moved up to the 250cc class the following year. In the 1998 season , the Aprilia RS250 was reaching its pinnacle and had a team of riders in Rossi, Loris Capirossi and Tetsuya Harada . Rossi had to retire from the first two races in Japan and Malaysia. He came back from this by scoring three consecutive second places in Spain, Italy, and France, but retired once more from

5609-534: The title in Rio de Janeiro, with the Argentinian round in hand, and finished the season with 309 points, his first 250cc world championship title and his second title overall. After achieving the 250cc World Championship in 1999, Rossi was given a seat with Honda in what was then the highest class in World Championship motorcycle racing, the 500cc. Retired five-time 500cc World Champion Mick Doohan , who had also had Jeremy Burgess as chief engineer, worked with Rossi as his personal mentor in his first year with Honda. It

5688-566: The title this year. With the traditional first venue of the season in Suzuka having been taken off the calendar due to safety concerns following the fatal accident of Daijiro Kato in 2003, the 2004 season started in Welkom in South Africa. Rossi took the pole on Saturday and won the South African race after a hard-fought battle with Max Biaggi, becoming the first ever rider to win consecutive races with different manufacturers, having won

5767-504: Was 2002, when riders experienced teething problems getting used to the new bikes. Rossi started the year off strong and won the first race in wet conditions in Japan , beating several local riders who were racing as wildcards. He also took the pole position in the first five races. Rossi finished second in South Africa , where his teammate Tohru Ukawa took his first and only victory in the MotoGP class. He then scored victories from

5846-518: Was also the first time Rossi raced against Max Biaggi . Rossi started off his first year in the 500cc class with retirements in the first two rounds: he crashed out of the South African and Malaysian races. He scored points in the third round in Japan and picked up two third-place finishes in Spain and France. Rossi picked up additional points in Italy and another third-place podium finish in

5925-400: Was an up and down season for Fenati, as he scored four podiums in the first six races and ultimately recorded four wins during the season. However, inconsistent results ultimately left him in 5th position in the championship with 176 points. Bagnaia finished top 10 five times during the first seven races with a 4th-place finish at Le Mans as his best result, where he also set the fastest lap of

6004-681: Was confirmed for another season and Nicolò Bulega was selected as second rider. Marini won two races (Thailand and Japan), achieved a second place (Italy), a third place (Netherlands), a pole position (Japan) and a fastest lap (Austria), finishing the season 6th with 190 points. Bulega finished 17th with 48 points, with a 7th place finish as his best result of the season. For 2020 , Marini was partnered with Marco Bezzecchi . With strong performances from both riders (three race wins and six podiums for Marini, two race wins and seven podiums for Bezzecchi), VR46 clinched their first teams' championship with Marini and Bezzecchi finishing 2nd and 4th respectively in

6083-468: Was given his first opportunity to ride a 125cc motorcycle by former world champion Paolo Pileri , who became a team manager after retiring from competition. Later in 1993, with help from his father, Virginio Ferrari , Claudio Castiglioni and Cagiva factory racing team manager Claudio Lusuardi , Rossi competed in the 125 cc Italian Sport Production Championship on a Cagiva Mito alongside teammate Vittoriano Guareschi . At his first race meeting with

6162-692: Was inducted into the MotoGP Hall of Fame as an official Legend by the FIM at the awards ceremony after the conclusion of the 2021 season. His #46 bike number was retired at the 2022 Italian Grand Prix . Rossi owns and manages the Racing Team VR46 , which competes in MotoGP as of 2024. In addition to his team management role, Rossi competes full-time in the FIA World Endurance Championship , driving for Team WRT , in

6241-430: Was replaced by Pablo Nieto , Alessio ‘Uccio’ Salucci and Carlo Alberto Tebaldi. The 2015 season was also an under-performance for Fenati. Though he maintained some consistency finishing in the top five in eight races – including a victory at Le Mans . Poor qualifying positions for Fenati resulted in the loss of vital points, and he finished the season with 176 points – as he did in 2014 – but placed one position higher in

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