JAKARTA - Valentino Rossi on Thursday in Austria has made up his mind to end his career in MotoGP in the last 25 years after the 2021 season is over. Here's a flashback of The Doctor as reported by Antara.
He is the only rider to have won world titles in the 125cc, 250cc, 500cc and MotoGP classes.
The official MotoGP page notes that the Italian rider's career began in 1996 when he was 17 years old and took the 14th starting position in Sepang, Malaysia.
Riding an Aprilia RS125 motorbike, Rossi finished in the top six and caught the attention of the audience.
He had a streak of impressive performances followed by his first podium at the Austrian GP, and finally his first win at the Czech GP two weeks later.
The following year it was completely Rossi's, claiming the 125cc world title with 11 wins from 15 Grand Prix.
Aprilia decided to bring Rossi up caste to the 250cc class but he who was 19 years old had to settle for finishing runner-up after losing to Loris Capirossi.
In 1999, Rossi got his revenge, taking over the championship after victories at the Spanish and Italian GPs, and seven more wins to claim the title by a 48-point margin over Honda's Tohru Ukawa.
In the end, Rossi jumped into the premier class the following year and immediately became the center of attention as he rode the Honda NSR500.
As a rookie, he recorded DNF in his first two races, but it didn't take long for Rossi to climb the podium in the most prestigious class, with his first at Jerez.
After winning at Donington Park, England, Rossi became one of the title contenders that year. Despite winning his second victory in Rio de Janeiro, unfortunately the world title went to Kenny Roberts Jr.
Five titles in a rowThe rider born in Urbino, Italy, 42 years ago dominated MotoGP when he raced for Honda and then Yamaha, winning five titles in a row from 2001 to 2005.
In 2001 he won his first title in the 500cc class, then in his second year competing in the premier class Rossi collected 11 wins from 16 races to beat nearest rival Max Biaggi by a margin of 106 points at a time when the era of two motorcycles did not end.
On his MotoGP World Championship debut, Rossi continued his dominance and won the championship by a very long distance of 140 points from his rival,
2003 saw Rossi dedicate his final title to Honda before moving to Yamaha, and claiming a further two world titles with the Iwata manufacturer before his title streak was stopped by Nicky Hayden in 2006, where he only managed to finish third.
Then in 2007 it was Casey Stoner's turn to triumph on a Ducati motorcycle.
Hard yearsThe Doctor returned to the top of the championship in 2008 and 2009, and then swallowed a bitter pill after being defeated by his Yamaha team-mate, Jorge Lorenzo, in 2010, then moved to Ducati.
After climbing just three podiums during two tough seasons with the Italian factory team, Rossi returned to Yamaha in 2013 and took his first win in three years at Assen.
A championship runner-up in 2014, Rossi fought back for the title the following year but was again beaten by Lorenzo.
The No. 46 took pole position, as well as wins and a podium finish in 2016, but he returned to finishing runners-up at the end of the season after losing to Marc Marquez for the second time.
The year 2017 saw Rossi's final victory, the Dutch GP at Assen, and saw a difficult season for The Doctor who had a broken leg before the San Marino GP.
Rossi showed his fighting spirit to get back on track three weeks later in Aragon, before taking the podium again after a tight battle with Marquez at Phillip Island.
In 2018 the Italian stayed with Yamaha and finished in the top three in the championship, with two podiums he won the following year despite being winless in those two seasons.
The last time Rossi feasted on champagne was when he finished third at Jerez at the start of the 2020 season.
This year Rossi is in uniform for the Petronas Yamaha SRT team, for the first time in 19 years for the satellite team, and in tandem with his protege at the VR46 Academy Franco Morbidelli.
This season marks the final chapter in Valentino Rossi's saga as a Grand Prix racer, but it won't take long for the public to see him in the paddock again as his team, VR46, enlivens the premier class using Ducati engines next year.
"It's a difficult decision but I think in the end in all sports, the results make the difference. In the end this is the best way," said Rossi.
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