Since 1996, Valentino Rossi at the World Championship
Valentino Rossi in 1996 (APRILIA 125cc)
The idea of this blog is to remember past episodes that can be part of the memories of those who like motorcycling. Well, Valentino Rossi is a rider who was active until the end of 2021..., because he is (!...), and he has been at the highest level since 1996... In fact, Rossi's career is exceptional for several reasons and one of them is undoubtedly his longevity. In 1994, Valentino won the Italian Sport Production Championship in the 125cc class riding a CAGIVA. In 1995, already with APRILIA, he was once again Italian Champion in the 125cc GP, and also participated in the European Championship of the same class where he showed great speed, however the several falls conditioned the final result: third. In 1996, aged 17, he made his debut in the 125cc World Championship, just like the previous year with an APRILIA, he was considered the best rookie of the year, despite not having finished (by crash) in any of the first five races, at the end of the season he was 9th and most importantly he achieved his first victory: Brno in the Czech Republic. In 1997 he won his first World title (in 125cc). In 1998, he started in the 250cc class, he became famous in the same way as he had in the year of his debut in the lower class, the following year, 1999, he became champion in the 250cc class.
Top to bottom, 1997 (125cc), 1998 (250cc) e 1999 (250cc)
In 2000, with HONDA, he made his 500cc debut, was runner-up and also achieved his first two victories in the main class! In 2001, on board his HONDA, he completely dominated, became World Champion, having achieved 11 victories among the 16 GP disputed!! In 2002, continuing at HONDA, the year of the debut of the new MotoGP class to replace the 500cc, Valentino once again imposed himself categorically, winning 11 GP out of the 16 disputed!!! The rest of the story is too recent to fit within the scope of this blog...
Top to bottom, 2000 (500cc), 2001 (500cc) e 2002 (MotoGP)
In addition to his undeniable skills as a rider, the four years of initiation on the world scene, made clear his great charisma and his great skill and intelligence as a "marketeer". He created procedures and image treatment of a quality far above the usual, until then! His sporting value was always highly enhanced by the intelligence of the way he knew how to communicate! He overcame the barriers of motorcycling, having become a global figure!!! Many copy his methods, but, until today, in this particular, no one has been able to match him!!!
1994
1995
1996, Brno