When nine-time Grand Prix World Champion Valentino Rossi retired in 2021, it ended a soaring career in the premier level of professional road racing that began in 1996. Published in 2017, London’s Michael Scott wrote spectacular biography—Valentino Rossi – Life of a Legend—that covered Rossi from his beginnings.
Scott has covered Grand Prix motorcycle road racing full-time since 1984, so he has had a trackside view of Rossi’s career from its earliest days. It would be difficult to cover Rossi’s career more completely than Scott has; he was at the circuit for nearly every one of Rossi’s 432 GP race starts, and didn’t miss any of Rossi’s 115 Grand Prix wins across all classes. Scott has also authored biographies of World Champions Wayne Rainey and Barry Sheene.
In his career that spanned 25 years, Rossi scored 87 500cc/MotoGP victories and a total of 115 wins, including 125GP and 250GP classes, created his own media presence, and amassed a worldwide fan base. Rossi’s final victory count put him close to fellow Italian racing legend Giacomo Agostini, who has 122 GP wins. Rossi’s career string of championships began at 18 when he won his first World Championship in the 125cc class aboard an Aprilia in 1997.
Valle’s father, Graziano, was an imposing road racing talent in his own right, having won three GPs in 1979 before injuries forced an end to his racing career. His father did not push his son toward a career in racing, but did provide both encouragement and technical expertise when young Valentino’s desire to race emerged.
Illustrated with more than 300 color and black/white images between hard covers, Scott’s Revised and Updated biography reveals Rossi as a champion with humor, grit, and determination, as well as capturing some of his more spectacular crashes. Appendices in the back of the book statistically summarize The Doctor’s GP career year-by-year, class-by-class. Scott’s book illuminates Rossi’s legacy as an enduring champion.
After his retirement from GP motorcycle racing, Rossi continues to build his professional legacy. In January 2022, he signed up to drive a full ten-race schedule in the GT World Challenge Europe series, which includes endurance and sprint races at the controls of a Team WRT Audi R8. Rossi also continues involvement in GP motorcycle racing as the owner of a team launched in 2014 along with the VR46 Riders Academy, where potential future world champions learn from top instructors from various motorcycle racing disciplines. In 2022, Mooney VR46 Racing Team fields riders in Moto 2 on Kalex chassis, and aboard Ducatis in MotoGP with Rossi’s maternal half-brother Luca Marini.
Valentino Rossi — Life of a Legend, Revised and Updated Fast Facts
- Author: Michael Scott
- Published: 2022
- Format: Hardcover; 208 9.0-by-10.7-inch pages; more than 300 color and black & white images.
- Publisher: Motorbooks, The Quarto Group
- ISBN: 9780760357385
Valentino Rossi — Life of a Legend, Revised and Updated Price: $40 MSRP
