1. Phillip Island 2001
The race that sealed Valentino Rossi's first premier class title and the start of his domination of MotoGP that would see him win seven of the next nine Championships.
The Australian Grand Prix saw Rossi go head-to-head with another legend Max Biaggi in the final year of the all-out 500cc era.
Rossi put it all on the line in his now trademark fashion when a bold overtaking manoeuvre just a few corners from the end of the race saw him take the lead.
He held it to the line in a tense finish, winning by just 0.013 seconds to take the first of five titles in a row in front of rapturous crowd.
2. Switch to Yamaha
After three successive titles with Honda, Rossi wanted to prove that it was him rather that Honda machinery who had the x-factor.
The 2004 season started at Welkom in South Africa and it was a dream start for the new combination as Rossi won the race, becoming the only rider to win consecutive races with different manufacturers.
Yamaha was without a win in 18 months when the Doctor arrived, but he left having won world titles with them in 2005, 2008 and 2009.
3. The move on Casey Stoner
Rossi's bitter rivalry with Casey Stoner stepped up a gear after the 2008 US Grand Prix - nearly ending in disaster.
The famous manoeuvre from Rossi on Stoner at The Corkscrew was a measure of just how far he would go to get one over on the Australian, who was seriously threatening his mantle as MotoGP's main man.
The pressure told with nine laps to go, when Stoner ran off track while trying to keep pace with Rossi going on to win on his way to reclaiming the MotoGP title.
4. Ending Sete Gibernau at Jerez
Rossi's ruthlessness was underlined at the opening round of the 2005 season, when at the Spanish Grand Prix he ran home hero Sete Gibernau off the track in the final corner on the last lap.
The pair had fought closely for the past two seasons, with Gibernau finishing runner-up to Rossi in the championship twice, and this race is credited as being the moment that the Italian really finished off his Spanish adversary
5.125cc World Champion
Rossi showed what lay ahead as he simply dominated the 125cc Championship in 1997.
Despite stiff competition from, amongst others, Noboru Ueda, Kazuto Sakata and Jorge Martinez, the Italian ran away with the title taking 11 wins from the 15 races and in the four he didn’t win, he took second, third and sixth.
https://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/motogp/valentino-rossis-five-greatest-motogp-20555659
2019-10-13 06:00:00Z
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