Valentino Rossi

Valentino Rossi
Valentino Rossi
Nationality	Italian
Date of birth	February 16, 1979 (1979-02-16) (age 30)
Place of birth	Urbino, Italy
Website	fanclubvalentinorossi.com
MotoGP Record
Current team	Fiat Yamaha Team
Bike number	46
Championships	8 125cc - 1997 250cc - 1999 500cc - 2001 MotoGP - 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008
Race starts	221
Wins	102
Podium finishes	160
Pole positions	56
Fastest laps	80
Points	3932
2009 championship position	1st (212 pts)

Valentino Rossi, (born February 16, 1979 in Urbino),^[1] is an Italian professional motorcycle racer and multiple MotoGP World Champion. He is the most successful motorcycle racer of all time, with 8 Grand Prix World Championships to his name. According to Sports Illustrated, Rossi is one of the highest earning sports personalities in the world, having earned an estimated $34 million in 2007.^[2]

Following his father, Graziano Rossi, Rossi 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. He won the 500cc World Championship with Honda 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.