Valentino Rossi is a famous Italian motorcycle racer. According to critics, he is the greatest pilot of our time. Rossi is an official of MotoGP. The annual earnings of the rider is about 35 million dollars. This article will describe his brief biography.
Childhood
Valentino Rossi was born in Italy (Urbino) in 1979. On the track, the boy was brought by his father, who was engaged in motor sports on a professional level. But the mother was categorically against it, and Valentino had a new hobby - karting. The father even bought a mini-car for regular son training. In 1990, Valentino won his first competition. At the same time, the boy did not throw a motorcycle. He trained secretly from his mother. By 1991, Rossi had already accumulated several victories in regional mini-bike competitions.
A real success in karting was the victory at the national championship in Parma. Rossi Jr. took fifth place. Father and son began to think about participating in the 100cc series, which could become a springboard for Formula 1. But the race car was very expensive, so the choice was made on motorcycling.
Career development
In 1995, Valentino Rossi became an Aprilia official racer and went to the European Championship. There, the young man took third place. He also retained the title of Italian Championship 125cc this year. After 12 months, the driver made his debut at the Malaysian GP.
1997 was a very successful year for Valentino Rossi. The young man won 11 times: in Indonesia, Catalunya, Great Britain, Brazil, Germany, Imola, the Netherlands, France, Italy, Spain and Malaysia. As a result, he became the 2nd youngest world champion in the 125cc class.
In 1998, Rossi moved to the next class - 250cc. And immediately won 5 victories: in Argentina, Australia, Catalunya, Imola and the Netherlands. In the next 500cc class, the rider performed two years later. There was a lack of experience, and Rossi won only two times: in Brazil and the UK.
In the following years, Valentino dominated motorcycling, winning champion titles in all existing classes. Now the rider stands for the team of Yamaha Factor Racing.
Private life
In 2007, Valentino Rossi, whose biography was described in this article, was accused by the Italian authorities of tax evasion. The court verdict indicated hidden income earned from 2000 to 2004 in the amount of $ 160 million. The residence of the rider was in London due to more favorable tax conditions. But in fact, Valentino did not live there, but was in Italy all the time. In 2008, Rossi told the press that he had agreed with the tax service. The racer will pay 35 million euros and the case will be closed against him.
Such is the life of one of the greatest motorcycle racers of our time.