Dani Pedrosa

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Daniel "Dani" Pedrosa born September 29, 1985 (1985-09-29) (age 21) in Sabadell, Spain), is a Grand Prix motorcycle racer [1]. Pedrosa grew up in a village near Sabadell called Castellar del Vallès. He is the youngest world champion in 125cc and 250cc Grands Prix. Pedrosa stands 1.58m (5ft, 2in) tall and weighs 51kg (112.4lbs).

Career

Early days

The catalan Dani Pedrosa started riding bikes at the early age of four, when he got his first motorcycle, an Italjet 50, which had side-wheels. His first racing bike was a minibike replica of Kawasaki, which he got at the age of six and which he used to race with his friends. Pedrosa experienced real racing at the age of 11, when he entered the Spanish Minibike Championship and ended his debut season in second place, scoring his first podium finish in the second race of the season. The next year, Pedrosa entered the same championship, but health problems prevented him from improving his results and he ended that season in 3rd position.

125cc

In 2001, Pedrosa made his World Championship debut in the 125cc class after being selected from the Movistar Activa Cup, a series designed to promote fresh racing talent in Spain, back in 1999. Under the guidance of Albert Puig, Pedrosa scored two podium finishes in the first season and won his first race the following year, when he finished third in the championship. In 2003, he won five races and won the championship with two rounds remaining, scoring 223 points. In his first championship winning year, Pedrosa scored five victories and six podium finishes. A week after winning the championship, eighteen year old Pedrosa broke both of his ankles in a practice crash at Phillip Island (Australia), ending his season.

250cc

After winning the 125cc Championship, Pedrosa moved up to the 250cc class in 2004 without a proper test on the new bike because his ankles were healing during the off-season. Going into the season unprepared, Pedrosa won the first race in South Africa and went on to clinch the 250cc World Championship title, including rookie of the year honours. In his first season in 250cc class, Pedrosa scored 7 victories and 13 podium finishes. Pedrosa decided to stay for one more season in 250cc class, and he won another title, once again with two races remaining in championship. In 2005, Pedrosa won 8 races and scored 14 podium finishes, despite a shoulder injury he sustained in practice session for Japanese Grand Prix.

MotoGP
Dani Pedrosa on board the Repsol Honda RC211V.
Dani Pedrosa on board the Repsol Honda RC211V.

Pedrosa made the move to 990cc MotoGP bikes in 2006, still riding for Honda. Critics said that Pedrosa wasn't big enough or strong enough to successfully race MotoGP. He finished second in the opening round at Jerez on March 26, 2006. At his fourth ever MotoGP appearance, on May 14, 2006, during the Chinese Grand Prix race weekend held in Shanghai, he won his first MotoGP race.

He won his second MotoGP race at Donington Park and became a strong candidate for the MotogGP Championship. It was a memorable victory for Dani, who shared the podium first time with Valentino Rossi in 2nd place. He also took 2 pole positions in the first half of the season.

Until the Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang, Pedrosa was 2nd in the Championship only behind his more experienced team-mate Nicky Hayden. However, he fell heavily during Free Practice and suffered a severe gash to the knee; which practically rendered him immobile. Pedrosa qualified 5th on the grid in that race due to the cancellation of the qualifying session proper (heavy rainfall). He miraculously managed to finish 3rd in that race, only behind Rossi and Ducati rider Loris Capirossi. However, in the next races, his form dropped and he struggled with the bike; moving him down to 5th place in the MotoGP standings.

His poor performance continued at Estoril. After a promising start, he briefly ran 2nd before being passed by Colin Edwards and then championship leader and teammate Nicky Hayden. On lap 5, he and Hayden were involved in a crash. Pedrosa slid and crashed out of the race, taking out Hayden on the way. This crash ended his slim chances of winning the championship and also caused Hayden to lose his lead in the championship standings, as Rossi managed to finish 2nd.

However, two weeks later, Hayden recovered to win the championship while Pedrosa managed to finish in 4th place. This result clinched his 5th place in overall standings in his debut season, thus taking the title as Rookie of the Year in MotoGP category, beating fellow rookie and former rival in 250 cc Casey Stoner.

At the final (post 2006 season) three day test of 2006 at Jerez Spain, Dani put his 800 cc RC212V at the top of the timesheets (on qualifying tyres) edging out Valentino Rossi by 0.214 seconds. Rossi had been fastest for the first two days of the test. Dani set a time of 1min 39.910 sec around the circuit.

Pedrosa has continued to race with Honda in 2007, on their Honda RC212V, the new 800 cc bike for this season.

Casey Stoner

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Casey Stoner born October 16, 1985 (1985-10-16) (age 21) is a motorcycle racer originally from Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. He currently competes in the MotoGP class for the Ducati Marlboro team.


Contents

* 1 Biography
o 1.1 125cc
o 1.2 250cc
o 1.3 MotoGP
+ 1.3.1 2007 Season Summary
* 2 Personal life
* 3 Career statistics
o 3.1 By Seasons
o 3.2 By class
o 3.3 Races by year
* 4 References
* 5 External links

Biography

His first race was when he was four years old, in an under nine years old race at the Hatcher's dirt racing track on the Gold Coast of Australia. Between his very first race win at the age of nine and the age of fourteen, young Casey Stoner won 41 dirt and long track titles and 70 state titles. One feat he achieved that illustrates his passion and "need" for racing was done at age twelve. Over one weekend he raced in 5 different categories in all 7 rounds of each capacity. A weekend consisting of 35 different races... Not only did he compete in all these categories and different engine capacities, the young Casey Stoner went on to win 32 out of the 35 races. There were five Australian titles to be won that weekend, Casey Stoner won all 5.

The legal age to enter into road races in Australia is 16, at 14 years old Casey Stoner and his parents agreed he was ready to move up onto road racing so they packed up the family and moved to England - reason being that the legal age for road racing in that country is 14.

From 2000 to 2002, he contested the national 125cc GP championships in Britain and Spain, winning the English 125cc Aprilia Championship in 2000, before moving fulltime to the 250cc GP World Championships in 2002. His season on an Aprilia under the guidance of Lucio Cecchinello was turbulent, with no podium places from 15 race starts.

125cc

In 2003 Stoner moved to the 125cc GP category. Here, working again with Cecchinello and Aprilia, he met with considerable success, scoring his first GP race win and three second places, finishing 8th overall at the season's end.

In 2004 Stoner joined the Red Bull KTM factory team in 125cc class and continued to improve, with another race win, two second places, three thirds, and a final championship position of fifth.

250cc

In 2005 he rejoined the 250cc world championship class, racing once again for Lucio Cecchinello on an Aprilia. Onboard a factory Aprilia, Stoner emerged toward the season's end as a serious threat to championship leader Dani Pedrosa; a threat that only dissipated with a crash at Stoner's home Grand Prix of Phillip Island, allowing Pedrosa to establish an insurmountable points lead. Stoner went on to claim a solid second place in the overall championship standings, with an impressive five race victories for the season.

MotoGP

Stoner was rumoured to be considering a position with Yamaha,[1] but eventually settled on an alliance once more with team manager Lucio Cecchinello on a Honda RC211V, on a one-bike team new to the series for the 2006 Season. He took pole for only his second race, but crashed several times. He finished his debut season in 8th position with his best result being a 2nd place at the Turkish GP, where he was overtaken on the final corner by Marco Melandri.

Stoner secured a ride with the factory Ducati team for the 2007 season,[2] joining Loris Capirossi on the new 800cc Ducati Desmosedici GP7. He recently signed a contract extension with Ducati that will see him remain with the team for the 2008 and 2009 seasons (in which he will partner Italian Marco Melandri), with a further option for a 4th season in 2010.

2007 Season Summary

* On March 10, 2007, at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar, Stoner won the first grand prix of the season, the first ever 800cc grand prix, and had his first win in the MotoGP class.[3] Starting 2nd on the grid, Stoner was in a race-long battle with multiple champion Valentino Rossi - the Yamaha had the advantage in the corners, but Stoner's Ducati had too substantial a speed advantage on the kilometre long straight.

* On 25 March 2007, at the Jerez circuit in Spain, Stoner fought his way back from 9th place at mid race to finish in 5th place behind Toni Elias, Colin Edwards, Dani Pedrosa and race winner Rossi.

* On April 22, 2007, at the Istanbul Park circuit in Istanbul, Turkey, Stoner won the 2nd Race of his MotoGP career by coasting to victory over Spains Toni Elias by nearly 7 seconds with teammate Loris Capirossi finishing 3rd.

* On 6 May 2007, at the Shanghai International Circuit in China, Stoner made it back to back victories for the first time in his MotoGP career, and his 3rd win from 4 GP's this season by beating once again 7 time world champion Valentino Rossi into 2nd place. John Hopkins completed the podium on his Suzuki.

* On 20 May 2007, at the Bugatti Circuit Le Mans in France, Casey rode an impressive ride in torrential rain to 3rd place, behind eventual winner and countryman Chris Vermeulen, with Italian Marco Melandri in 2nd Place. The ride was described by many media members as Stoner's best ride in MotoGP up to this point.[citation needed] He now led Rossi by 21 points.

* On 3 June 2007, at the Mugello Circuit (Autodromo Internazionale di Mugello) in Italy, Stoner rode to a strong 4th place, being pipped on the finish line for 3rd by Alex Barros, also riding a GP7 Ducati for satellite team D'Antin Ducati. The GP was won by Valentino Rossi who cut Stoner's title lead to just 9 points, with Dani Pedrosa placing 2nd.

* On 10 June 2007, at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona, Stoner took his 4th win of the season, beating out Valentino Rossi by 0.069sec in a thrilling race-long battle in which Rossi exerted maximum pressure on Stoner throughout the GP. Rossi went on to finish 2nd and Spaniard Dani Pedrosa rounded out the rostrum at his home GP.

* On 24 June 2007, at the Donington Park Circuit in Britain, Stoner won back to back for the 2nd time this season, and his 5th victory in 8 races in an utterly dominant performance winning by 11.768 seconds from Colin Edwards, with fellow Australian Chris Vermeulen rounding out the podium.

* On 30 June 2007, at the TT Circuit Assen in the Netherlands, after leading for the majority of the race, Stoner was passed by Valentino Rossi with 3 laps remaining. Stoner was unable to retaliate, and finished a solid 2nd, with Repsol Honda rider and current World Champion Nicky Hayden finishing 3rd for the final podium spot. Stoner's championship lead was reduced to 21 points.

* On 15 July 2007, at the Sachsenring Circuit in Germany, Casey battled race long with tyre problems compounded by trying to match the leading riders lap times in the early stages of the GP. He finish a credible 5th, behind Repsol Honda rider and race winner Dani Pedrosa, with Loris Capirossi and a resurgent Nicky Hayden rounding out the podium. Main title rival Valentino Rossi crashed out early in the race, allowing Stoner to extend his championship lead to 32 points.

* On 22 July 2007, at the Laguna Seca Circuit, USA, Stoner completely dominated the entire weekend, leading every timed session, qualifying and the fastest race lap on his way to winning the GP by 9.865secs from fellow Australian Chris Vermuelen, with Italy's Marco Melandri finishing 3rd. With Valentino Rossi again finishing off the podium in 4th place, Stoner further extended his title lead to 44 points over Rossi.

* On 19 August 2007, at the Masaryk Circuit, in the Czech Republic, Casey started from pole position and led from start to finish. He completely dominated the race, setting the fastest lap and winning easily by 7.903 seconds from John Hopkins. World Champion Nicky Hayden finished 3rd with compatriot Chris Vermuelen 5th. Valentino Rossi finished 7th, enabling Stoner to increase his championship lead over Rossi to 60 points. Stoner's performance was described by runner-up John Hopkins as flawless: "Casey was unbelievable - he was on fire... I gave it everything I had and pushed everything. The tyres and the Rizla Suzuki were awesome, but Stoner was flawless all weekend long. I tried and tried and tried but after about 10 laps I just had to give up on him and concentrate on finishing second."[4]

* On 2 September 2007, at the 2007 San Marino and Rimini's Coast motorcycle Grand Prix race, Stoner started from the pole for fourth time in the row and easily took third consecutive victory with a 4,851 second margin to runner-up Chris Vermeulen while leading the race for the whole distance. While Stoner won the race, his two closest rivals for rider's World Championship were forced to quit the race, Valentino Rossi suffering from a technical failure on fifth lap and Dani Pedrosa being a victim of first lap collision, which forced him to quit the race. The retirement of Rossi and Pedrosa opened up a massive 85 point gap between Stoner and his nearest rival Rossi, with five races and 125 points available in the season. Generally, this was considered to be the end of the race for rider's world championship.[5] Regarding contemporary comments, Paul Denning, the head of Suzuki MotoGP racing team commented Stoner's performance and equipment available in the middle of discussions[clarify] considering the Ducati bike and Bridgestone tyres as too superior: "I believe that the difference at the moment is Casey and we're focusing our best efforts to improve our own performance to beat him and that's what everybody should be doing at this time."[6] Denning's comment may well be considered as an objective evaluation of the situation, after Misano race Stoner had scored more points than three other Ducati riders combined. Also, Valentino Rossi apparently gave up his hopes for championship by showing true sportmanship and stating: "Ducati and Stoner deserve to win this world championship and I take my hat off to them".[5]

Personal life

Stoner met Adriana Tuchyna from Adelaide when she approached him at Phillip Island in 2003 and got him to sign his autograph on her stomach.[7] They started dating in 2005 when she turned 16,[8] and married in Adelaide on 6 January 2007.[9]

Rossi KO

Hard for Valentino Rossi in his MotoGP 2007 Season. Even on Sachsenring, Rossi was down and out. The five-times winner of the elite crown had been hopingto continue the revival in his fortunes, highlighted by victory the previous week in the Dutch TT. After his customary sluggish start, he was timing his attack to perfection.

His Fiat Yamaha was running seventh, and turning the screw on the Kawasaki of Randy de Puniet on the sixth lap. They charged into a right-hander, with Rossi nosing through on the inside, but the Italian was running in fast and tight and his bike broke away from under him, spinning across the track.

Rossi tried to wrestle the bike back out of the gravel but his efforts were in vain and he was left to make his disconsolate way back to the pits.

Pedrosa was leading, with Stoner second, and the Ducati team flashed a message to their rider, displaying "Rossi KO" on the pit-board.

From Telegraph .co.uk
By Dave Fern
Last Updated: 1:10am BST 16/07/2007

Valentino Rossi

Valentino Rossi (born February 16, 1979 in Urbino) is an Italian professional motorcycle racer and multiple MotoGP World Champion. He is one of the most successful motorcycle racers of all time, with 7 Grand Prix World Championships to his name (only Giacomo Agostini has more with 15 GP World Championships). In 2006, he narrowly missed an 8th title by scoring a second place in the Championship, and now continues in the 2007 season as one of the title favourites. According to Sports Illustrated, Rossi is the 7th highest earning sports personality in the world (2nd outside the United States), earning an estimated $30 million a year.

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 250 cc category, again with Aprilia, and won the World Championship in 1999. He won the 500 cc 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 MotoGP World Championship after leaving Honda to join Yamaha.

The early years

Valentino Rossi was born in Urbino, and grew up in the town of Tavullia. Son of Graziano Rossi, a former motorcycle racer, he first jumped on a bike at the age of two, and his astounding career progressed in leaps and bounds.

Rossi's first racing love was actually go-karts. Fuelled by Rossi's mother, Stefania's, concern for her son's safety, Graziano purchased a go-kart as 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.

Although Valentino showed interest in such things as his guitar and playing football, his interest in school and study waned. Shrugging off his mother's attempt to get him to attend football school, he found more interest in the gravel pits and various motorcycle GPs.

Graziano attempted to forge documents in an attempt to get Valentino's junior kart licence one year before he was legally allowed (he was 9 at the time), but ultimately failed.

Valentino won the regional kart championship in 1990. At the time, a new craze had taken over. The minimoto had now become his weapon of choice, and before the end of 1991, he had won 16 regional races.

Although minimoto was for fun, he continued to race karts and finished fifth at the national kart championships in Parma. Both Valentino and Graziano had started looking at moving him into the Italian 100 cc series as well as the corresponding European series, which most likely would have pushed him into the direction of Formula 1. However, the high financial burden of racing karts led to the decision to race minimoto exclusively. Through 1992 and 1993, Valentino continued to learn the ins and outs of minimoto racing, steadily racking up win after win.

The move to motorcycles

With Rossi growing in talent, it became abundantly clear that a proper motorcycle was required to further his progress. In 1993, Rossi acquired a Cagiva Mito 125 cc motorcycle, which was damaged in a first-corner crash no more than a hundred meters out from pit lane.

The bike was repaired, giving Rossi an opportunity to correct his first-corner mistake, only to crash it going into the second corner. It was an amusing yet trying moment for Rossi, who was hoping to decide whether motorcycles were really for him.

Valentino ended up finishing ninth that race weekend. Although his first season in the Italian Sport Production Championship was varied, he consistently improved his skills, leading to a pole position at the season's final race in Misano, where he ultimately would finish on the podium. By the second year, Rossi had been provided a factory Mito by Cagiva team manager Claudio Lusuardi and cruised to the Italian title.

The World Championship era

In 1994, Aprilia by way of Sandroni had found a new young talent in Valentino Rossi and proceeded to use him to improve its RS125R and in turn allowed Vale to learn how to handle the fast new pace of 125 cc racing. At first he found himself on a Sandroni in the 1994 Italian championship and continued to ride it through the 1995 European and Italian championships.

Rossi had little success in the 1996 World Championship season, collecting more crashes than anything else, failing to finish five of the season's races. In August, he won his first World Championship Grand Prix at Brno in the Czech Republic on an AGV Aprilia RS125R. By the end of the season, he was in ninth position, plagued with somewhat inconsistent performances, yet showing stunning speed at times. Rossi treated it as a learning process and refined his skills enough to completely dominate the 125 cc World Championship in the following 1997 season, winning an impressive 11 of the 15 races.

By 1998, the Aprilia RS250 was reaching its pinnacle and had a formidable team of riders in Valentino Rossi, Loris Capirossi and Tetsuya Harada. But even with a fast bike and experienced championship-winning teammates, Rossi struggled in his first season in 250 cc. Rossi considered 1998 the toughest year of his career, due to the persistent pressure to perform that he felt from Aprilia, the media and effectively everyone around him. The death of two of his friends in a car accident also took a toll. Again, he found himself learning the ways of his new bike in the first season, concluding the 1998 250 cc season in second place, only three points behind the champion Loris Capirossi. In 1999, however, he won the title, collecting 5 pole positions and 9 Grand Prix wins along the way.

Rossi was rewarded in 2000 for his 250 cc World Championship by being given a ride with Honda in what was then the ultimate class in World Championship motorcycle racing, 500 cc. Jeremy Burgess, part of Honda Racing's brains trust, had shown him the NSR500 and was convinced that the pairing of it with Rossi would bring nothing but success. Retired 500 cc World Champion Mick Doohan, who also had Jeremy Burgess as chief engineer, worked with Rossi as his personal mentor in the first year at Honda. It would also be the first time Rossi would be racing against fierce rival, Max Biaggi. Although the two had never raced against each other, an intense rivalry had developed due to Rossi's arrogant yet lovable nature and Biaggi's proud, king-of-the-hill persona. The media naturally escalated things, printing any juicy gossip they heard, be it alleged or real. Rossi proceeded to showcase the NSR500's strengths, constantly using his analytical mind to refine it even further. It would take nine races before Rossi would win on the Honda, but like his previous seasons in 125 and 250, it was inevitable that 2000 would be a warm-up to a dominant second season. Vale finished 2nd to American Kenny Roberts, Jr., with Max Biaggi finishing in 3rd place.

Rossi stormed home to an overwhelming World Championship in 2001, winning 11 races, including the first three and the final four of the season. It would be the final 500 cc season for Rossi and most of the premier class.

Also in 2001, Rossi teamed with American rider Colin Edwards for the Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race aboard a Honda VTR1000SPW. The pair won the race despite Rossi's "lack" of experience racing Superbikes.

MotoGP

2001 had turned out to be the swansong for the 500 cc World Championship; the 500 cc giving way to the newly created MotoGP class. The two-stroke 500 cc were rapidly being replaced by four-stroke 990 cc engines, allowing the factories to provide their riders with staggeringly fast motorbikes. Honda outfitted their factory riders with the RC211V, a liquid-cooled V5 four-stroke with traditionally odd aerodynamic aesthetics but phenomenal speed. Even though Rossi likes the Japanese bikes, he has always wanted to ride the infamous Team Bramich 748 Ducati.

2002 was the inaugural year for the MotoGP bikes and with all riders experiencing the same teething problems getting used to the new bikes (or dealing with the inferior 500 cc bikes), it was all Rossi needed to grasp the Championship with two hands from the very first race and never let go of it. Rossi won an astounding 8 of the first 9 races of the season, eventually claiming 11 victories in total.

It was more of the same in 2003 for Rossi's rivals; Rossi claimed 9 pole positions as well as 9 GP wins to his third consecutive World Championship. The Australian GP at Phillip Island in 2003 is considered to be one of Rossi's greatest career moments due to the unique circumstances in which he claimed victory. After being given a 10-second penalty for overtaking during a yellow flag due to a crash by Ducati rider Troy Bayliss, 1st-place 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.

From Honda to Yamaha

There was much speculation during the second half of the 2003 season about Rossi's plans for the future. Most suspected that he would succeed in his bid to claim a third consecutive title and wondered where the amazingly talented Italian would go in the future. There were even rumors that he would attempt a career in rally cars after he had competed in a Peugeot 206 WRC rally car at the 2002 Rally of Great Britain (although he drove the car into a ditch). His contract with Honda was up at the end of the year and there were rumors that Rossi had become somewhat disillusioned with his ride at Honda. His tenure at Honda had effectively run its course; he had provided Honda with a 500 cc World Championship as well as consecutive MotoGP World Championships, he had helped perfect the RC211V into a formidable, almost unstoppable racing machine and considering Honda's reluctance to pay top dollar to secure his services in 2004, seemed to have overstayed his welcome.

Partnered with increased skepticism that the reason for his success was the dominance of the RC211V rather than Rossi's talent, it was inevitable that Honda and Rossi would part. Mid-season rumors 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 lackluster 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 offers another reason for choosing Yamaha over Ducati, saying that the mindset at Ducati Corse was a little too similar to 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 (U.S) $12 million; a price no other manufacturer, even Honda, was willing to pay.

Rossi's move to Yamaha would be a baptism of fire. His fiercest critics claimed that on an inferior machine (the Yamaha YZR-M1), Rossi would not be able to recreate his World Championship wins of the previous years, especially with increased development of the RC211V and the likes of Max Biaggi and Sete Gibernau on Hondas. The RC211V was a superior machine in almost every aspect although it was guaranteed that the gap would shrink with the defection of Rossi and Jeremy Burgess (chief mechanic for Rossi at Honda, whom Rossi had also convinced to join). The 2004 season would give Rossi the ability to show everyone, especially his critics what he was made of and provide him with an opportunity to prove that it was his talent rather than his bike that won him his championships.

With the traditional first race of the season at Suzuka off the list due to safety considerations, the 2004 season started at Welkom in South Africa. Rossi shone through to claim first blood in his new team colors and somewhat silenced some of his critics who thought the Yamaha would still play second fiddle to the Honda. Rossi would go on to claim 8 more GP wins during the season, battling Sete Gibernau ferociously until Rossi eventually closed the door on Sete's hopes in the penultimate race of the season at Phillip Island. Gibernau and Rossi had become bickering enemies during the course of the season; whereas in previous seasons they had been competitive but friendly rivals, various disputes arose during 2004 which led to their falling apart. Rossi would continue to rub salt into the wound for both Gibernau and Honda by winning the ultimate race of the season at Valencia. It was a painful blow to both Gibernau and Honda; Gibernau, so close to a World Championship, and Honda, starting to become aware of what they had let go. Valentino Rossi ended up with 304 points to Gibernau's 257, with Max Biaggi 3rd with 217 points.

In 2005 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season, Rossi captured his 7th World Championship and 5th straight MotoGP Championship. He finished with a total of 367 points, an incredible 147 points ahead of 2nd place finisher Marco Melandri (220 pt), and Nicky Hayden finishing 3rd with 206 points.
Rossi congratulates Hayden on the 2006 MotoGP title.
Rossi congratulates Hayden on the 2006 MotoGP title.

The 2006 MotoGP season started off with Rossi, once again, being the favorite to take the Championship, but he had trouble in the first half of the season. Rossi finished 14th in Jerez, making an amazing comeback after Toni Elias pushed him at the very first corner, and had a pair of DNFs in Shanghai and Le Mans due to tyre and electronic problems respectively. Nicky Hayden held the points lead throughout most of the season, but Rossi was slowly working his way up the points ladder. It wasn't until Motegi when Rossi finally grabbed 2nd in the points race behind Hayden. In the Portuguese Grand Prix, the second to last race of the season, Hayden was taken out by his teammate, Dani Pedrosa, and did not finish the race. This led to Rossi taking the points lead with only one race left in the season. Rossi crashed early in Valencia, the last race, and Hayden went on to win the 2006 MotoGP Championship. Rossi finished the season in 2nd place.

Valentino Rossi returned to MotoGP for the 2007 season riding the new Yamaha YZR-M1 800 cc. In the first race in Qatar he came second to Casey Stoner on the Ducati Desmosedici. In the second round of the season Rossi won the Race with Dani Pedrosa in second place and Colin Edwards in third giving both Yamaha riders podiums. Casey Stoner returned to winning ways in the third and fourth races of the season at the Turkish and Chinese grand prix on his extremely quick Ducati, which has enjoyed a top speed advantage over the rest of the field. Another reason for Stoner's consistency during the 2007 season in comparison with Rossi's mixed results is the advantage Ducati's tyre supplier, Bridgestone, appears to have over its rival, Michelin, who supply tyres for Rossi's factory Yamaha.

Rossi's lowly 10th position at Turkey was put down to a defective tyre and while he managed to bounce back to a second place on the podium at China, a poor tyre recommendation from Michelin was blamed for his 6th place finish in the wet French grand prix at Le Mans. Bridgestone riders took all 3 places on the podium at the French tyre giant's home race, and Rossi went on the record to say that Michelin must urgently address various weaknesses. Indeed it seemed they paid heed to their wake up call when Rossi cruised to victory at his home race, the Italian grand prix at Mugello, ahead of Dani Pedrosa, also Michelin-shod on his factory Honda. Championship leader Casey Stoner was beaten to the last podium place at Mugello by Brazilian veteran Alex Barros on a satellite Ducati with Bridgestone tyres.

Rossi's grip on the championship loosened slightly at Catalunya and Donington, finishing second and fourth respectively to winner Casey Stoner, however the Assen race was won by Rossi who charged through the field from 11th on the grid after a poor wet qualifying session to challenge and eventually beat Casey Stoner to the chequered flag by 1.5 seconds. At the half-way point of the 2007 season Rossi was the closest challenger to Casey Stoner's title aspirations, trailing by 21 world championship points. In the month of June, commonly called "Rossi's month" with races consisting of Mugello, Catalunya, Donnington Park and Assen, both Valentino Rossi and Casey Stoner have scored 83 points each; 2 x 1st place, 1 x 2nd place and 1 x 4th place. This has been done in conditions favourable to the Italian manufacturer and in some cases left Rossi on the fourth row with a point to prove.

Sachsenring saw a disastrous performance from the Italian. After qualifying fourth on the grid, whilst Stoner took pole, Rossi had to use raceday to his advantage. Come Sunday, Rossi lined up with a fever of 102 degrees and dropped down to 8th by the end of the first lap. A pass on Randy De Puniet at the tight Omega corner saw Rossi lose the front, catch it then lose it completely and skid off into the gravel where his right hand clip on was damaged leaving him out of the race on lap 6. Luckily problems for Bridgestone in the blistering heat saw Stoner finish 5th stretching his championship lead by 11 points to 32 ahead of "The Doctor". A visit to Laguna Seca for the USGP, Rossi finished 4th place behind Stoner, Vermulen, and Melandri respectively.

The end to the summer break in the 2007 season landed the MotoGP paddock at Brno, with various new changes to the Fiat Yamaha. Qualifying 6th for the race start on Sunday morning after struggling in free practice, Rossi spent his rear Michelin early on in the race chasing Capirossi to make it up to 5th. Eventually tyre issues got the best of the 7 times world champion and Rossi crossed the finish line in 7th, a whole 22 seconds behind 1st place man Casey Stoner. This now leaves Rossi 60 points behind the Championship leader with only 150 points up for grabs, the next set available at Misano where "The Doctor" must achieve a result to keeps his championship hopes alive.

Intense rivalries

Earlier in his career Max Biaggi was, for all intents and purposes, considered Rossi's arch-nemesis. At one time his website didn't even have Max's name; instead a glaring "XXX XXXXXX" was placed wherever his name should have appeared. Although they hadn't even raced against each other until 2000, the rivalry between the two had been growing since the mid-'90s. Rossi has always considered himself a better rider than Biaggi and the Roman has always considered himself far superior to the crown prince. The rivalry has started to die down over recent years due to Vale's consecutive World Championships and Biaggi's struggle to find support and a consistent rhythm with his races. Biaggi looked to improve on recent results with a ride with Honda's factory team in 2005. However, he was off the team and unemployed once the 2006 season rolled around.

In his autobiography "What If I Had Never Tried It", Rossi makes a number of claims about the reasons for his rivalry with Biaggi, and some of the incidents which led to its escalation.

Rossi largely blames the media and their desire to publicise a rivalry between the pair for the eventual severity of the rivalry. Any quotes that the media got out of the pair were twisted and made to seem far more serious and insulting than they had been meant. Rossi also says that he is simply too honest. He had merely disagreed with the claims Biaggi made about why he wasn't winning races - Biaggi blamed the bike, the tyres, the engine, and Rossi felt that Biaggi should have accepted that sometimes he was the one at fault. They simply have very different outlooks on motorcycle racing, dealing with the media, and life in general. When the media get involved, it is basically a recipe for disaster.

During one incident at Suzuka in 2001, Rossi alleges that Biaggi elbowed him on the straightway at 220 km/h to prevent him from overtaking. This caused Rossi to lose a lot of time and drop several places, but he managed to make up the time and eventually overtook Biaggi to win the race. As he overtook Biaggi, he took his left hand from the handlebars of his bike and gave Biaggi the middle-finger. The press, according to Rossi, took Biaggi's side as usual, and excused Biaggi's elbow as necessary - Rossi's overtaking move had been dangerous and Biaggi had to intervene to prevent a collision. Rossi was vilified for the "vulgar gesture", and he felt that this was entirely unfair.


By the time the 2001 season had moved to Barcelona, the animosity from Suzuka had festered and was built up so much by the media that it threatened to blow out of control. After the race (which Rossi won), the pair got into a fist-fight before the podium presentation. The tension was evident in the press conference, although the media hadn't yet found out what had happened. The Dorna officials took Rossi and Biaggi aside immediately after the press conference and ordered them not to talk about the incident, and to play it down. Neither rider was sanctioned for the incident. Rossi maintains that afterwards he kept his word and didn't speak to the journalists, but Biaggi apparently broke his word and talked to the journalists.

At the next Grand Prix in Assen, Honda organized a press conference to put the events of Barcelona behind them. Rossi and Biaggi shook hands in front of the media, and that effectively ended the feud. After that, although they have had run-ins on track, the media frenzy surrounding them and any incidents off-track calmed down. In 2007 Biaggi found a ride in the World Superbike series showing that the rivalry has fizzled and wained in importance.


Rossi's main rival in the 2004/2005 seasons was Sete Gibernau, riding with Team Gresini's Movistar Honda team on a satellite RC211V in 2004 and then on an all but in name factory RC211V, which Gibernau helped to develop, in 2005. Initially they were quite friendly in the paddock and off - Gibernau partied on occasions with Rossi at the Italian's Ibiza villa - but a souring in their relationship began in the 2004 season and culminated in the "Qatar Incident" that same season when Rossi's team was penalized for "cleaning" his grid position to aid in traction, along with Honda Pons' Max Biaggi, and both riders were subsequently forced to start from the back of the grid. A number of teams, including Gibernau's Team Gresini and the official Repsol Honda factory team, appealed successfully to race direction for Rossi to be sanctioned. Rossi and his chief mechanic, Jeremy Burgess, insisted that they were doing nothing more than what many others had done before when faced with a dirty track and Rossi accused Gibernau of being behind the move to appeal for a sanction, something the Spaniard categorically denied. Since then the two have not spoken and Rossi seemed to resolve to use the incident to apply psychological pressure on Gibernau. He is said to have sworn that after the Qatar race, which Gibernau won while Rossi crashed out after rising to 6th position, he would do everything to make sure that Gibernau never stood on the highest step of the podium again. This determination on the part of Rossi might go some way towards explaining his harsh inside passing manoeuver on Gibernau in the final corner of the first round race of the 2005 MotoGP World Championship at Jerez, which resulted in a Rossi win and Sete claiming second after they both touched and Gibernau was forced into the gravel. The Movistar Honda rider was visibly displeased, with clearly unhappy body language during post-race celebrations and a terse response in the post-race press conference. Rossi offered a handshake to Sete which he accepted. Rossi said in the post-race press conference that he understood that Sete was angry but that at the end of the day, "these are the races." Gibernau remained visibly angry, but sportingly said that he simply wanted to move on to the next race and not get caught up in the feud. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFy3rqE_pqk

As a comparison, a very similar incident occurred at the Qatar GP of 2004 when Rossi collided with Alex Barros when Rossi attempted to outbrake the Brazilian into the first corner, after colliding with Barros he instantly raised his hand in apology.

Gibernau retired from Grand Prix racing after an unsuccessful, injury blighted 2006 season with Ducati and he never won another race after Qatar, prompting some in the Spanish and Italian motorcycle racing media to explain this fact by way of reference to the "Qatar curse".

Nicknames

Valentino Rossi has had numerous nicknames during his racing career. 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 his dominance in 500 cc and MotoGP, Rossi has used the nickname "The Doctor." 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. There are two theories as to why Rossi is entitled "The Doctor", one is 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". Although Valentino often jokes that the name arrived because in Italy, Rossi is a very common surname for Doctors. These days Rossi rarely crashes and in fact holds the record for the longest streak of consecutive podiums. From September 8, 2002 to April 18, 2004, he stood on the podium at the end of all 23 races including every race in 2003.

He has always raced with the number #46 in his motorcycle grand prix career. Rossi has stated that the original inspiration for this choice of number was a Japanese "wild card" racer whom he saw on television speeding past much more seasoned riders in a wet race. He later found out that it was the number his father had raced with in the first of his 3 grand prix career wins, in 1979, in Yugoslavia, on a 250c Morbidelli. Typically, a World Championship winner (and also runner-up and third place) is awarded the #1 sticker for the next season. However, in a homage to Barry Sheene (who was the first rider of the modern era to keep the same number), Rossi has stayed with the now-famous #46 throughout his career. The text on his helmet refers to the name of his group of friends: "The Tribe of the Chihuahua", and the letters WLF on his leathers stand for "Viva La Figa", Italian for "Hurray the Pussy". He has so far escaped any sanctions or ultimatums that he take the letters off because of the "W" for the first letter. Readily apparent is the "W" standing for the two "V"s in "ViVa", and equally obvious is his success at escaping any disciplinary action from the FIM or Dorna for having the letters so brazenly on the front neck of his leathers. He traditionally also incorporates his favorite color (fluorescent yellow) into his leather designs. Up until the 2007 season, Rossi wore the #1 reserved for the reigning World Champion on the shoulder of his racing leathers.

Plans for the future

Rumors abound speculating Rossi will switch from two wheels to four wheels some time in the next few years. Initially these rumours centered on Rossi switching to Formula 1 and his test drives of the Ferrari F1 car received heavy media coverage.

Most recently Rossi tested the Ferrari in 2006 on January 31, February 1, and February 2 at Valencia. The first day saw Rossi spin out on the damp track into the gravel trap ending his day. On the second day, he posted the ninth fastest time of fifteen drivers, approximately one second behind Schumacher, who himself was third fastest. Rossi lapped faster than seasoned drivers Mark Webber, David Coulthard and Jarno Trulli. On the final day of testing, Rossi was just a little more than a half second behind Schumacher's best time. Schumacher hailed Rossi as having immense talent and said he would be perfectly capable of moving to Formula One and being competitive immediately.

On May 24, 2006, Rossi announced that he would be staying in MotoGP until he felt his work on the motorbike was "finished". Ferrari driver Schumacher said that he felt "saddened" by Rossi's decision, but supported it. Rossi subsequently signed a new contract with Yamaha for the 2007 and 2008 seasons. The two year contract was notable as after leaving Honda at the end of the 2003 season Rossi had refused to sign contracts of more than a year.

Greater than his interest in F1 is Rossi's strong passion for rallying. His first official foray into rallying came in 2002 at WRC Rally Great Britain, in which he crashed out on the second stage (first non-superspecial stage). He subsequently raced a factory Subaru Impreza car in the Rally of Monza in November 2005.

On October 11, 2006 it was announced that Rossi would enter that year's Rally New Zealand, a WRC event which was to run from November 17-19.[3] He competed with a Subaru WRC car finishing 11th place out of 39. On November 26. In the same year Rossi also won the annual Monza Rally driving a Ford Focus WRC car. He beat the 2005 rally victor Rinaldo Capello by 24 seconds, winning five of the seven stages on his way. He also managed to outpace former WRC Champion Didier Auriol by seven seconds in the head-to-head Master Show final. Rossi also announced at the Monza rally, he will be entering the 2007 Rally of Great Britain.

Rossi announced he will quit Motogp in three years time during the 2007 German Grand Prix.

Superstitions

Rossi is a very superstitious person and his pre-ride rituals are well known. Prior to riding (whether racing, qualifying, or practice), he will start his personal ritual by stopping at about 2 metres from his bike, bend over and reach his boots (thus the 2004 TV spoiler "Are you ready boots?"). Then, when arriving at his bike, he will crouch down and hold the right-side foot-peg, with his head bowed. It is not known whether he is in silent prayer, if he is getting in the correct frame-of-mind needed to ride, or paying respect to a fellow racer, family member, or friend. He will also be adjusting the fit of his leathers by standing straight up on the foot-pegs, whilst riding the pit-lane before the start of race or practice; this may merely be a matter of comfort, which has become a much-commented upon habit. He also revealed in an interview with MotoGP.com that he always puts one boot on before the other, one glove on before the other, and he always gets on the bike the same way. He also spends time with his bike in the garage the night before a race checking the positions of all the stickers.

Personal life

In light of continual intrusion into his personal life, and excess Italian taxes, Rossi chose to live in Piccadilly Circus, London, England; from the end of 1999 onwards, in time for the 2000 MotoGP season. He also enjoys relaxing and partying in the Spanish island of Ibiza, where he owns a hill top villa.

In 2007, The Italian tax authorities declared Rossi was being investigated for suspected tax evasion. Having previously unsuccessfully investigated Rossi for tax evasion in 2002, the authorities announced they were investigating Rossi for undeclared revenues of 60 million euros ($96 million) between 2000 to 2004. The officials said Rossi's London residency has enabled him to take advantage of favourable tax conditions, such as only declaring earnings made in Britain and avoiding taxes on his lucrative merchandising and sponsorship contracts, commenting that Rossi had: "residency in London but is not domiciled there." It noted that in 2002, Rossi's Italian tax form declared earnings of 500 euros, while sponsorship contracts were all reported to be made out to foreign companies, but with his affairs controlled mainly from Italy.