After two frustrating years at Ducati, Valentino Rossi is returning to a team that helped him add to his list of World championships, Yamaha. Yamaha has created the video below, which is followed by Rossi’s rider description on the official Yamaha Racing web site. Speculation is currently “all over the map” as to whether Rossi can return to his winning ways in 2013.
Overview/Personal/Profile/Career/Highlights
The 2013 season sees the return of an old friend as Valentino Rossi rejoins the Factory team for what will be his eighth season at Yamaha. Having been absent for two years with a different manufacturer, Rossi is back again and partnered with old team mate and current World Champion Jorge Lorenzo to create a formidable line up to challenge for the 2013 title.
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 frst 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 premier-class 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.
2007 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.
After a torrid two seasons, Valentino Rossi returned to winning form in 2008 and recaptured the MotoGP title. The Italian won nine races – equal to his first season with Yamaha in 2004 – and stood on the podium at 16 out of 18 rounds. Notable highlights in an exceptional year included a seventh straight win at Mugello, a titanic duel with Casey Stoner in Laguna Seca, where Rossi had never previously won, and a historic victory at hurricane-struck Indianapolis. Rossi eventually took the title in the best possible way, with a victory at Yamaha’s home track in Japan, with three races to go. It was his eighth career title and his third with Yamaha.
2009 saw Valentino Rossi cross more milestones in his incredible career and take a ninth world championship title, his fourth with Yamaha. He showed that after fourteen years of racing in the World Championship he is still the best rider of his generation and worthy of his crown.
The Italian hero took six wins in a season which saw him and his rivals all make mistakes at times as they pushed each other to unexpectedly great heights. Rossi’s battle with his team-mate Jorge Lorenzo reached epic proportions with the Battle of Barcelona due to go down in history as one of the greatest ever, Rossi triumphing with an audacious last-corner move that saw him win by just thousandths of a second.
His incredible run of Mugello victories came to an end but he made up for it with a perfect performance at his home track of Misano when he also took one of his seven pole positions. His victory in Holland was the 100th win of his career, further proof, if any is needed, that he truly is one of the greats. He finally secured the title at Sepang with several races still to run.
2010 proved to be one of the toughest of his career with Yamaha. The then World Champion suffered a fall in practice at Mugello, breaking his leg and effectively ending any hopes of challenging his then team mate Lorenzo for the title. As the season drew to a close, he made a comeback to score several podiums and a race win in Malaysia, wrapping up 2010 in third position having missed a total of four races. To the disappointment of Yamaha race fans the world over it was at this point that the Italian chose to embark on a new adventure, leaving Yamaha for a two-year stint at Ducati. It was with great excitement that the announcement finally came mid-season in 2012 that he would return to again partner Lorenzo in Yamaha Factory Racing, back, where many believe, he belongs.
He turns 34 in February 2013 and is as enthusiastic as ever as he embarks on his eighth season with Yamaha. 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 and has stayed with him ever since.
One of the most popular members of the paddock, ‘The Doctor` has a wide fan base all over the world. He is a keen supporter of Inter Milan football club and also an accomplished rally driver.
Tough time ahead for Rossi as he has to compete with teammate Lorenzo but also very in form Pedrosa and upstart Marquez. I foresee Marquez will give him headache while Pedrosa and Lorenzo as usual fighting for 1-2 finishes….
Not to mention Crutchlow and I would have said Dovisioso had he not switched to Ducati
I think we’ve seen the best from Val. You can only do something for so long before you lose either ability or fire. I think Val is starting to lose both, and that is evidenced in his own self doubt. Still it will be good to see him racing the Yamaha once again, and that is the brand I will always associate his name with ( for example like Ago and MV even though Ago won championships for both MV and Yamaha).
I hope I get the opportunity to watch racing this year, as it should be very interesting. I’ve been hearing that FOX is eating up SPEED and they intend on broadcasting only NASCAR based programs. Does anyone have any further information? On the Moto GP front, why not allow CRT bikes to weigh 50 pounds less?
most excellent question. was just having this conversation with a friend 2 days ago. nobody seems to know squat. hell, the few of us stateside are getting all spun up over forthcoming seasons… we may not even get to see…!? 🙁 we’ve gone a built a multi-million dollar racetrack in texas (hey, how ’bout that), just in time for speed to STOP showing F1 after 17 years…!? ok, if they’re out, then what are OUR chances…? slim to none…? less than zero…? without a TV package, anybody still thinking that there’s going to be 3 GP’s…? guys, it’s the “cheapskates blowback”. devaluing mentalities are finally coming home to roost. don’t anybody say they weren’t warned.
re: “On the Moto GP front, why not allow CRT bikes to weigh 50 pounds less?”
PS: because the effort’s moot. those “non-starters” are gone come 2014. D.O.A. this… exactly like many in-the-know predicted.
Yamaha is a generous manufacture. I wish Rossi the best of luck.
There is no free lunch at this level, what do you mean by “generous”?
He won’t do worse:-)
Yellow always looked better on blue. They’re complementing colours, after all. That Gauloises M1 looked the best, imho.
He will come back. Everyone who says he is too old is wrong. They are motorcycle racing not doing gymnastics. He doesn’t need absolute peak human strength or flexibility to win races and he really wants to prove something.
What racers lose is not in their body, it is in their minds. I think Rossi still has the ability to win (his 2nd place in the rain is strong evidence) but I will be surprised if he manages to do it more than once next year.
No but racers need to be able to have their brains in the right place, and age doesn’t help that in MC racing. We’ll see!
It depends on the individual. Rossi is only 32 and he has very good processes in place as well as the ability to alter his race tactically on the fly. As far as age goes, Schumacher won his last F1 title when he was 36 and Vasily Alexeev won the Olympic super-heavyweight weightlifting gold when he was 34. There’s a sport where your head has to be in the right place. Rossi will be in the hunt. His head is in the right place to do the job. If he doesn’t win the title it won’t be any different than Casey Stoner or Dani Pedrosa not winning the title this past year.
re: “age doesn’t help that in MC racing.”
that’s where the multi-millions spent on giving a rider a technical advantage come in. yamaha’s finally commited to doing a TRUE seamless gearbox like honda’s, which i said all along they didn’t have. sad, but they’ll prolly perfect their’s just in time for the technology to be banned altogether.
2013 is going to be a great year! One of the best riders in the world is back on a winning machine. I can not wait!
There will be no hiding a fart under the blanket this year – we are going to find out if Rossi still has it or not. I hoping for a great year of racing!
After seeing what Max Biagi accomplished in WSBK this last year only a fool would count Rossi out.
WSBK and MotoGP = different games. Not too many have gone from WSBK to GP and achieved real success. Plenty have gone the other way, including Max, Melandri, etc.
“Plenty” are not VR46.
I’m just saying the success on a superbike is not the same accomplishment as success on a GP bike. If it were, Melandri and Biaggi would have been contenders for the GP title before leaving to WSBK. They weren’t.
Biaggi finished 2nd in total points at least once on a GP machine. Won some races even… I’d consider that enough to qualify Biaggi as a “contender for the GP title.”
@Chris, Max was great when younger but by 2006 he was unable to secure a ride with any team despite bringing Camel tobacco sponsorship with him. He went from less than a title contender to a champion in WSBK as an older rider.
Rossi is not debuting in WSBK, he is taking on Pedrosa, Lorenzo and other younger riders at the top of their talents on the fastest motorcycles in the world.
re: “WSBK and MotoGP = different games.”
politically.
I think he may have a hard time competing with the kids at this stage in his racing career. I would have rather him go out as a champion than stay at the party too long. It’s a real long shot, but perhaps he will surprise us all and get a few podium finishes.
My speculation as to whether he can return to winning form is all over the map, too. 34 isn’t too old to win, though he may not take the risks that a youngster might (Stoner on the Ducati for instance). I believe he’s extremely hungry for a championship, and the Yamaha should be up to the task. But for the first time in his career he has professed self doubt. It’s gonna be very interesting…
They spelled “were” wrong.
I bet there embarrassed.
Good one!
A good laugh to start the day!
Cheers
Should never have left in the first place Vale!
Wow. In that livery the bike looks like a spaceship. I hope Rossi can return to the podium on a regular basis, and make the title go down to the wire. I don’t think he will be champion again with so many younger, fast(er?), and hungry riders on the grid though.
re: “I don’t think he will be champion again with so many younger, fast(er?), and hungry riders on the grid though.”
it’s a good job guys like bayliss, checa, biaggi, etc never thought this. 🙂
It’s a good thing for Bayliss, Checca & Biaggi that they never to compete with Pedrosa, Lorenzo (& not to mention Stoner) in today’s MotoGP.
I expect that Rossi will do better than Hayden this year.
Bayliss beat Pedrosa et all in a 1 off Ducati ride in Moto GP a few years ago.