Valentino Rossi’s 10 greatest MotoGP races

After 26 seasons, 432 grands prix, nine world titles and 115 victories, Valentino Rossi’s glittering MotoGP career came to an end at the final round of the 2021 season in Valencia.

With plenty of races to pick from, Rossi’s greatest moments arguably outrank any of his rivals’, past or present, and encapsulate the history of motorcycle racing’s biggest ever star.

 

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10. 2000 British GP
Donington Park
Honda NSR500 (1st)

Rossi had blazed a trail through the 125cc and 250cc classes in the late 1990s, winning titles in both, before he made his top-tier debut in 2000 with the factory-backed Nastro Azzurro Honda squad on the snarling NSR500.

Speed was not in short supply for the then-21-year-old, with Rossi scoring three podiums in the first eight races. But consistency was the main issue, Rossi crashing out of the opening two rounds and scoring 11th, 12th and sixth-place results in Japan, Italy and the Netherlands respectively.

After qualifying fourth at a wet Donington Park, Rossi was almost flicked from his Honda at the start and plummeted to 13th by the first corner. But, showing the wet-weather prowess that would follow him throughout his MotoGP days, Rossi steadily climbed his way back into the podium positions by the end of lap 14 of 30.

And his march continued, Rossi taking the lead from Jeremy McWilliams at the Melbourne hairpin with just over three laps to go. McWilliams on the Aprilia and Suzuki’s Kenny Roberts Jr, who would win the title that year, kept Rossi in check as he scrabbled for grip on the drying track. But Rossi took the chequered flag 0.395 seconds ahead of Roberts to claim the first of his 89 premier class victories and begin his journey towards becoming a motorsport legend.

 

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9. 2015 Dutch TT
Assen
Yamaha YZR-M1 (1st)

Rossi had a real love affair with Assen, scoring eight wins at the Dutch TT venue in his top-class career. It was the scene of an important comeback victory in 2013 after two miserable seasons at Ducati in 2011 and 2012, and it would ultimately play host to his last win in 2017.

In 2015, Rossi – now 15 seasons into his grand prix career – was at his best level since his title-winning glory years of the 2000s. He had won twice and stood on the podium at every round up to Assen, and led Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo by one point when they arrived in the Netherlands to continue one of the most enthralling MotoGP title battles of all time.

But it would be Marc Marquez, with whom he’d had a collision on the final lap on his way to victory in Argentina earlier in the year, who Rossi battled with at Assen.

The pair ran 1-2 after the first lap and duelled for the entire race. Rossi led onto the final lap, with Marquez launching his Honda up the inside of the Yamaha into the final chicane in a last-gasp bid to snatch victory.
The pair made slight contact, Rossi sent through the chicane’s gravel trap. He emerged on the other side still in the lead and took the chequered flag. It would only serve to deepen tensions between Rossi and Marquez, but at the time Rossi was showing he’d lost none of his guile in combat.

 

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8. 2005 British GP
Donington Park
Yamaha YZR-M1 (1st)

The 2005 season proved to be one of Rossi’s most dominant campaigns in MotoGP. Now in his second season with Yamaha, he started it off with a win in the opening round at Jerez following a controversial clash with Sete Gibernau, finished second in Portugal, then won five on the bounce from the Chinese GP to the Dutch TT before finishing third at Laguna Seca.

MotoGP’s summertime return to Britain and Donington could well have ended that podium streak, as miserably heavy rain lashed the circuit and left rivers of standing water.

The 29-lap British GP proved to be a race of survival as 11 of the 21 starters crashed out. Rossi himself got a poor launch from pole and dropped briefly to seventh. But on lap four he got himself back to the head of the pack, before a huge slide at Redgate on the following tour forced him into another fightback. He made several more mistakes in a race that would likely never have gone ahead nowadays.

Despite his many moments, Rossi’s otherworldly talent on a motorcycle propelled him back into the lead and onto a dominant victory in what he described at the time as “my hardest race”.

 

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7. 2005 Spanish GP
Jerez
Yamaha YZR-M1 (1st)

Rossi was the all-conquering force of MotoGP’s first half of the 2000s, the Italian four times a world champion on Honda and Yamaha machinery. And his rivalries were fierce, most notably with Max Biaggi and Sete Gibernau.

Rossi came into the 2005 season as the reigning four-time champion, having transformed Yamaha back into a title-winning force during the previous year.

Gibernau – runner-up the previous two seasons – was quick on the Gresini-run Honda, and in the opening round of the 2005 campaign at Jerez the pair had in their most famous clash.

Rossi started from pole, but a crash in morning warm-up meant he had to race his number two bike. Off the line Gibernau grabbed the lead and held station until the end of lap 25, when Rossi came through at the final corner.

The Yamaha rider made a mistake into the Dry Sac hairpin on the last tour, however, allowing Gibernau to pull back alongside and jam his Honda around the outside of the Turn 7 left-hander. Rossi tried and failed to retake the lead through the penultimate corner.

Launching one last raid, Rossi came up the inside of Gibernau at the final corner and punted the Spaniard off track to claim victory number 43 in the premier class.

Gibernau was furious about the clash and feels even to this day that it set a negative precedent. But it only solidified the ruthlessness that would carry Rossi to three more championships.

 

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6. 2013 Dutch TT
Assen
Yamaha YZR-M1 (1st)

Rossi’s spell with Ducati in 2011 and 2012 almost brought his career to an ignominious end, with the difficult Desmosedici allowing him to yield just three podiums across the two seasons.

As Ben Spies, his replacement at Yamaha, struggled for form in 2012, an opening for an unlikely return ‘home’ appeared. Rossi duly signed for 2013 to begin his second spell with Yamaha, although it was questioned whether he did so with tail between his legs or bit between his teeth after the misery of his Ducati tenure.

Rossi scored second in the opening Qatar GP, but wouldn’t stand on a podium again during the next five races, raising further questions about whether he was past it.

At Assen Rossi started fourth, and picked his way past Honda trio Stefan Bradl, Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa to take the lead inside the first six laps in a display that almost eradicated the memory of his Ducati years.

From then on he eased away from the pack, emerging victorious by 2.170s to take his first win since the 2010 Malaysian GP.

He wouldn’t win again that season, but the point had very much been proven: Rossi was far from past his best, and ultimately Assen 2013 would serve to be the stepping stone to a full-blown title tilt in 2015.

 

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5. 2004 South African GP
Welkom
Yamaha YZR-M1 (1st)

The Honda/Rossi combination of the first two years of the MotoGP era in 2002 and 2003 had been absolute in its domination of the class. But a divide emerged between Rossi and HRC during 2003 – his third title-winning campaign at the sport’s pinnacle – with the Italian unhappy that his contributions to Honda’s dominance were seemingly being put second to that of the V5-powered RC211V.

Mired in a title drought dating back to Wayne Rainey in 1992 and enduring a winless 2003, Yamaha pulled off a coup – orchestrated by then-team boss Davide Brivio – in getting Rossi to agree to join the Japanese marque for 2004.

History shows that it would be the best decision of Rossi’s career, but it was a major risk at the time, with Honda holding Rossi right to the end of his contract to stop him testing the M1 ahead of 2004. But those fears were assuaged at the opening round of the campaign at Welkom in South Africa.

Rossi led early on from pole before being overtaken by arch rival Max Biaggi, who was on a Honda. The pair locked horns up to the last lap, with Rossi getting the better of Biaggi by 0.210s.

Rossi became the first rider to win the last race of a season and the first of the following year with different manufacturers, and his celebration – when he knelt in front of the M1 – has become one of his most iconic. It would begin the most successful spell of his career.

 

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4. 2001 Australian GP
Phillip Island
Honda NSR500 (1st)

Rossi became the title challenger everyone expected him to be in 2001, the final season of the 500cc two-stroke machines. He won 11 of the 16 races as he romped to his first world crown.

That year also saw the blossoming of his bitter rivalry with Max Biaggi, the pair having major clashes on track at Suzuka and Barcelona, with the latter spilling over into a physical altercation post-race.

Arriving at Phillip Island, Biaggi required a big result if he was to keep his slim title hopes alive, while Rossi simply needed to keep him just in sight to seal the deal.

What erupted was a furious multi-rider battle for victory that included Rossi, Biaggi, Loris Capirossi, Alex Barros, Noriyuki Haga and Olivier Jacque and raged through to the closing stages.

When Biaggi hit the front late on, Rossi tried to bolt with him. It was unnecessary in the grand scheme of things, but it showed how unwilling Rossi was to simply settle – the defeat of his rivals had to be absolute.

Rossi pulled off a daring raid on Biaggi at Turn 10, three corners from the finish, and held on for victory by 0.013s.

It was a race that displayed all of Rossi’s speed and, perhaps more importantly, his ruthlessness. And it marked the start of what was to follow over the next two decades.

 

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3. 2008 United States GP
Laguna Seca
Yamaha YZR-M1 (1st)

The late 2000s brought some of Rossi’s toughest opponents in MotoGP, which in turn led to some of his most memorable races.

Casey Stoner was one such rival. The Australian made waves in his rookie season in 2006 with his speed, and stunned a year later when he dominated the campaign on the factory Ducati to win the world title.

Rossi had won three times in 2008 on the Yamaha ahead of the US GP at Laguna Seca, while Stoner was on four, including the three races prior to the Californian round. He was still 20 points adrift of Rossi in the standings, but a dominant pole by over four tenths against Rossi at Laguna gave the impression that the championship gap would reduce further.

Rossi took the lead on the opening lap at the Corkscrew, before Stoner stalked and then pounced on him into Turn 2 on lap four of 32. The pair battled hard over that lap, Rossi getting back ahead at Turn 5 before Stoner scythed past on the outside of the Rahal straight. Rossi then pulled off his famous Corkscrew overtake, launching it up the inside of Stoner and taking the lead despite touching the gravel on the inside.

The pair traded places again on the following tour, but Rossi had the upper hand and fended off Stoner’s subsequent attacks until the Ducati rider crashed at the last corner with nine laps to go, leaving Rossi to claim victory.

 

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2. 2003 Australian GP
Phillip Island
Honda RC211V (1st)

Glance at the results sheet for the 2003 Australian Grand Prix and you’ll see what appears to be a fairly dominant display from Rossi, winning by 5.2s from Ducati’s Loris Capirossi. What it doesn’t show is how utterly crushing Rossi was that day at Phillip Island on his V5 Repsol Honda.

That year’s championship had already been wrapped up at the previous round in Malaysia courtesy of Rossi’s seventh win of his final campaign with Honda.

He made a sluggish start from pole in Australia, but Rossi fought back into the podium places in the opening laps. Then a pass on Marco Melandri into the Honda hairpin on lap five of 27, while yellow flags were being waved for Troy Bayliss’s crash on the previous tour, resulted in a 10s penalty for Rossi. He took the lead at the end of that lap, and had opened up an advantage of over two seconds by the time he was informed of the penalty.

What followed was arguably the classiest ride of his career, Rossi reeling off qualifying lap after qualifying lap to negate the penalty.

He crossed the finish line 15.2s clear of the field to seal his eighth win of the year and possibly his best with Honda.

 

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1. 2009 Catalan GP
Barcelona
Yamaha YZR-M1 (1st)

Ask any MotoGP fan what’s the best race they’ve ever seen and most will say Barcelona 2009. It’s certainly Rossi’s most memorable victory – he snatched a vital win at the last corner from Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo on his way to that year’s title.

By 2009 the Rossi/Lorenzo relationship had kicked into a new gear of tension, with Lorenzo viewed by Yamaha as its future while Rossi toyed with the idea of a switch to Formula 1.

Coming into the Catalan GP, Lorenzo – in his second season – had won twice to his Yamaha stablemate’s one. They qualified 1-2, Lorenzo outpacing Rossi by 0.013s, and the pair engaged in their greatest duel that raged to the final lap.

Lorenzo held the lead exiting Turn 10 after retaliating against a Rossi assault. Conventional wisdom was that the rider in the lead exiting Turn 10 would win the race. But conventional wisdom didn’t apply to Rossi at the peak of his powers. He launched his M1 up the inside of Lorenzo into the final corner, and emerged ahead to win by 0.095s.

It represented a turning point in the 2009 season, with Rossi going on to win four more times to Lorenzo’s two and wrapping up a seventh title with a round to spare.

But it also proved to the world that no matter how far into his career he would go and what would happen next, Rossi truly was magic.

Valentino Rossi, Petronas Yamaha SRT

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