Valentino Rossi

After being given a 10-second penalty for overtaking during a yellow flag due to a crash by Ducati rider Troy Bayliss, front runner Rossi proceeded to pull away from the rest of the field, eventually finishing more than 15 seconds ahead, more than enough to cancel out the penalty and win the race.

Partnered with increased scepticism that the reason for his success was the dominance of the RC211V rather than Rossi, it was inevitable that Honda and Rossi would part. Mid-season rumours pointed towards a possible move to Ducati, which sent the Italian press into a frenzy; the concept of the great Italian 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 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. Read Less

Stoner's and Rossi's rivalry came to a dramatic climax at Laguna Seca Raceway in 2008. After numerous position changes, Rossi overtook Stoner at the Corkscrew. The bold move caused Rossi to run into the dirt and broken pavement on the inside of the right turn, and his rejoining the track came close to causing a collision between the two riders. A few laps later, Stoner went into the gravel on the slow entry into turn 11. Stoner picked up his bike to finish second, while Rossi took the win. After this, Casey Stoner made the comment, "I have lost respect for one of the greatest riders in history." For the comment, Stoner apologised to Rossi at the next race.

In 2008, Jorge Lorenzo joined Rossi in the factory Yamaha Motor Racing team, which started a new rivalry. Rossi won the 2008 title, with Lorenzo suffering two serious crashes at Laguna Seca and China. Read Less

But Rossi decided to remain in Moto-GP; "I have a contract with Yamaha until 2008," said Rossi. "When that finishes then we will see. What I am sure about is that I will ride until I'm 31 or 32 at most. I will look for new stimuli in the next few seasons, but for now I am fully motivated". Read Less

Since his early racing days Valentino Rossi has had numerous nicknames. His first prominent nickname was "Rossifumi." Rossi explained the etymology of this nickname as a reference and tribute to fellow rider Norifumi Abe.

His next nickname appeared some time around his days racing in the 250 cc World Championship. The nickname "Valentinik" was a reference to the Italian Donald Duck superhero, "Paperinik".

Since dominating the 500 cc category later known as MotoGP, "The Doctor" has become the nickname of choice for Rossi. This has been attributed to his "cold and clinical dismantling of his opponents" as well as his cool and calm composure in racing compared to his frenetic days in 125 cc and 250 cc where his performance was erratic and dangerous, resulting in numerous crashes. Two theories prevail as to why Rossi uses "The Doctor." One is that Rossi adopted the nickname upon having earned a degree, which in Italy entitles one to use the title "Doctor". Another, as spoken by Graziano himself, "The Doctor because, I don't think there is a particular reason, but it's beautiful, and is important, The Doctor. And in Italy, The Doctor is a name you give to someone for respect, it's very important, The Doctor... important". Rossi often jokes, however, that the name arrived because in Italy, Rossi is a common surname for Doctors. Read Less

He originally planned to use the Impreza WRC2008 during his participation in the Rally GB in December 2008, but decided to drive a Ford Focus RS WRC 07 instead. He finished the rally in 12th place, 13 minutes and 20.4 seconds behind eventual winner Sebastian Loeb. Read Less

I would consider shifting to cars, probably rallying, after that before I finally decide to take it easy... I know F1 would've been easier but by the time I finish MotoGP, I will be too old for F1." Read Less

Rossi suffered a displaced compound fracture of his right tibia, and after post-surgical care close to his home in the hospital at Cattolica, it was diagnosed that he was likely to be out for most of the season. It was the first time that Rossi had missed a race in his Grand Prix career. However ahead of the British Grand Prix, Suzi Perry reported in her Daily Telegraph column that Rossi was planning on making a comeback at Brno. This was confirmed a week later by Rossi himself. On 7 July, Rossi rode at Misano on a Superbike World Championship-specification Yamaha YZF-R1 provided by the Yamaha World Superbike Team to test his leg's recovery. He completed 26 laps during two runs, with a best lap time that was around two seconds off the pace of recent World Superbike times at the circuit. At the conclusion of the session, Rossi complained of discomfort, reporting pain in both his leg and his shoulder. On 12 July, Rossi took part in another test at Brno, after which Rossi stated he was happier and a lot more in form. After an observation by the Chief Medical Officer on the Thursday before the weekend, Rossi made his return at the German Grand Prix, two rounds earlier than predicted and only 41 days after the accident. He managed to end the race in fourth place after a battle with Casey Stoner for third. Read Less

After original progress during the first test, the Ducati failed to meet the team's expectations at the second Malaysian test and left Rossi unsatisfied, having finished over 1.8 seconds behind Casey Stoner's pace-setting Honda.

Rossi started the season finishing seventh in Qatar, before a fifth in wet conditions at Jerez, despite a collision with Casey Stoner, which Rossi later apologised for. Another fifth place followed in Portugal, before a third place at Le Mans, benefitting from a collision between Dani Pedrosa and Marco Simoncelli, with Pedrosa retiring from the race and Simoncelli given a ride-through penalty. Rossi then finished the next four races inside the top six, with a best of fourth at Assen. Ninth at the Sachsenring, was followed by a pair of sixth places at Laguna Seca and Brno, and a tenth place at Indianapolis.

A seventh place finish at Misano was followed by a tenth place finish in Aragon, before a first-lap retirement in Japan, after contact with Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies, which left Rossi with a blow to his finger. He also retired in Australia, crashing out midway through the race. In Malaysia, Rossi qualified ninth but was involved in a collision with Marco Simoncelli and Colin Edwards on the second lap of the race. Simoncelli fell while running fourth, landing in the path of Edwards and Rossi, who both hit Simoncelli's Honda with Simoncelli's helmet also coming off in the incident. Read Less

Later that day, it was also announced that Rossi would rejoin the Yamaha factory team until the end of the 2014 season, partnering Jorge Lorenzo. Read Less