L’épreuve du Mugello est toujours un rendez-vous particulier pour Valentino Rossi, vainqueur en Toscane à neuf reprises et parti pour un 300e Grand Prix.
Valentino Rossi passera ce week-end au Mugello le cap des 300 Grands Prix sur l’un des circuits où il a remporté le plus de victoires au fil des ans. L’Italien portait un hashtag ‘#thisforSIC58’ sur sa combinaison aujourd’hui pour l’ouverture du Grand Prix TIM d’Italie, le jour où Marco Simoncelli entrait dans le Hall of Fame du Championnat du Monde en tant que MotoGP™ Legend.
Dimanche, Rossi deviendra le deuxième pilote à atteindre les 300 GP, après son compatriote Loris Capirossi, en 65 ans d’histoire du Championnat du Monde.
Quelques chiffres concernant sa carrière :
- Rossi a participé à 299 des 837 Grands Prix qui ont eu lieu depuis le lancement du Championnat du Monde en 1949. Il a donc participé à 35,7% des Grands Prix.
- Rossi a gagné sur sept motos différentes : 125cc Aprilia, 250cc Aprilia, 500cc Honda, 990cc Honda, 990cc Yamaha, 800cc Yamaha et 1000cc Yamaha.
- Rossi est le seul pilote à avoir gagné sur 500cc 2-temps, 990cc 4-temps, 800cc 4-temps et 1000cc 4-temps.
- Au cours de sa carrière, Rossi a couru sur 36 circuits différents et s’est imposé sur 27 d’entre eux. Aucun autre pilote ne s’est imposé sur autant de circuits.
- Le Circuit de Catalunya et le Mugello sont les deux circuits qui ont le plus réussi à Rossi, vainqueur à neuf reprises sur chacun des deux.
- Jerez est le circuit où Rossi a le plus couru, avec un total de 19 participations en Grand Prix.
- 16 ans et 315 jours séparent la première (Brno 1996, 125cc) et la dernière (Assen 2013, MotoGP™) victoires de Rossi en Grand Prix. Seul Capirossi a fait mieux mais sera battu si Rossi parvient à remporter une autre victoire.
The visit to Mugello is always special for Valentino Rossi, as a nine-time winner at the track, but Friday’s activity in Tuscany was particularly poignant for The Doctor.
As Rossi reaches the remarkable milestone of 300 Grands Prix at the circuit where he has enjoyed so much success over the years, he wore a special ‘#thisforSIC58’ message on his leathers in practice on the day that late rider Marco Simoncelli was inducted as a MotoGP™ Legend in a midday ceremony at Mugello.
On Sunday Rossi is scheduled to become just the second rider in the 65-year history of Grand Prix racing to reach the milestone of 300 GP race starts, the other being fellow Italian Loris Capirossi.
Below are a collection of statistics relating to Rossi’s long career in Grand Prix racing:
- He has taken part in 299 of the 837 Grand Prix events staged since the start of the World Championship series back in 1949. This means that he has taken part in 35.7% of all Grand Prix events
- Rossi has won GP races on seven different motorcycles: 125cc Aprilia, 250cc Aprilia, 500cc Honda, 990cc Honda, 990cc Yamaha, 800cc Yamaha and 1000cc Yamaha
- He is the only rider to have won on 500cc two-stroke, 990cc four-stroke and 800cc four-stroke and 1000cc four-stroke machines
- During his career Rossi has competed at 36 different Grand Prix circuits
- Of these 36 circuits, he has taken at least one GP win at 27 of them. No other rider in the history of motorcycle Grand Prix racing has won at as many different circuits as Rossi
- The circuits at which Rossi has had most GP wins are Catalunya and Mugello, where he has won nine times at each of them
- The circuit at which Rossi has made most Grand Prix appearances is Jerez, where he has made 19 GP starts across the three classes
- Rossi’s victory at the Dutch TT last year, 16 years and 315 days after his first GP win in the 125 class at Brno in 1996, made him the rider with the second-longest winning career across all classes, after Capirossi. If Rossi wins another Grand Prix, he will take this record away from Capirossi
