Born on February 16th, 1979 in Urbino, Marche, Valentino Rossi grew up amidst a racing background. He is the son of the former Italian motorcycle racer Graziano Rossi and mother Stefania Rossi. Valentino first started racing go-karts as his mother thought it was a safer option than bikes. In school, he was more interested in the things that were happening outside on the field than inside in class. In 1990, at the age of 11 years he won the regional kart championship.

But soon his craze for racing shifted from go-karts to bikes and the minimoto (miniature racing motorcycles) was the perfect vehicle to quench his desire. By the end of 1991, he won 16 regional races. He raced the minimoto for some years after that and eventually got himself an Aprilia RS125R and won 11 out of 15 races in the 125cc World Championship in the 1997 season. He struggled in his first season of 250cc but thereafter in 1999 won the title and collected 9 Grand Prix wins on the way. He shifted to 500cc and to Honda to win 11 races in the 2001 World Championship.

The year 2002 marked the start of the MotoGP era with two strokes being replaced by four strokes. Valentino won 8 out of 9 races of the season in the championship on the Honda RC211V V5 four stroke machines. In 2004 season, Valentino signed on with Yamaha claiming 8 GP wins and ending with 304 points. All through his racing career Rossi has had various nicknames such as 'Rossifumi', 'Valentinik' and 'The Doctor'. He has won 7 World championships and has held 79 Grand Prix wins. He has signed a contract with Yamaha for the 2006 season.