He came to Assen with an 11-point lead over runner-up Pedrosa but made a slow start from third on the grid, only to lose the back of his M1 machine on the entry of a tight left hand hairpin – his rear wheel sliding around and collecting Randy de Puniet's LCR Honda, taking him out in the process.

He started off poor, dropping from fourth to fifth on the grid but quickly made up ground by overtaking Jorge Lorenzo and Nicky Hayden on lap two before he hunted down his title rivals.

Jorge Lorenzo won the frantic wet/dry race whilst Rossi fell after a premature bike swap to slick tyres and also received a ride through penalty, ending up in sixteenth place and thus failed to score any points.

However, it was not meant to be as Rossi spun out of the lead when the rear of his M1 span-out through the Fogarty Esses on lap 20, demoting him to eleventh and leaving Dovizioso almost ten seconds clear of de Puniet.

Rossi climbed up to fifth on the last lap, overtaking home hero James Toseland in the final turn, but the race victory went to the Honda of Andrea Dovizioso for the first time.

This was enough for him to clinch his sixth MotoGP, seventh top class and ninth overall title over Jorge Lorenzo who started in the back of the grid and only managed to finish fourth, behind Rossi.

[218][219][220] It was the first time that Rossi had missed a race in his Grand Prix career, and allowed his title rivals – Lorenzo, Pedrosa and Stoner – to gain points, podiums and wins while he was absent for the Italian, British, Dutch and Catalan rounds.

Rossi battled with teammate Lorenzo for the bottom step of the podium during the race, which was won by Casey Stoner, but by now had a 69-point lead in the championship over second place Dani Pedrosa.

His podium chances continued to worsen when he got stuck behind Stefan Bradl but once he passed him, he defied the odds by bridging a three-second gap to Cal Crutchlow, Dani Pedrosa and rookie Marc Márquez who were fighting for second place.

However, during the 2018 Argentine Grand Prix, controversies reared up again following some disputed maneuvers carried out by Marc Márquez before and during the race, where he tried a very risky overtake on Rossi that resulted in a crash for the latter.

The race was split into two parts similar to the 2013 Australian Grand Prix after concerns over Michelin rear tyres forced riders to make a pitstop to change bikes.

[335] After the summer break, MotoGP's return to Austria for the first time since 1997 saw the Factory Ducati riders dominate for a 1–2 finish, Rossi coming home a close fourth behind Jorge Lorenzo.

[344][345] The European season began disappointingly with a lowly tenth position in the Spanish round whilst Honda rider Dani Pedrosa won the race from pole.

[347] Following the French round, Rossi suffered a motocross training crash and had mild thoracic and abdominal trauma, but no fractures were detected in any part of the body and no serious traumatic pathologies were found.

[351] Tests of a new chassis after the Catalan race were positive and saw Rossi take his first and only win of the season in the Dutch round after a late-race battle with the Pramac Ducati of Danilo Petrucci, who ran slick tyres on a damp track, the older Italian prevailing by just 0.063 seconds.

Rossi and Policand scored a class victory in the second race, having been promoted to the position after the AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE of Kei Cozzolino and Hiroshi Koizumi was penalized for "erratic driving".

On the Sunday after the race, the FIA WEC Rookie Test is scheduled, where Valentino Rossi (ITA), Dan Harper (GBR), and Max Hesse (GER) will piloted the BMW M Hybrid V8.

[445] Their rivalry reached its peak two months later at the 2001 Catalan round when at the end of the 500cc race, Rossi and Biaggi came to blows (involving members of their entourage and circuit employees) in the moments before the podium ceremony.

[484] Tempers reached boiling point in the race, where Márquez ran wide early on, allowing Lorenzo through for second and then had a heated battle with Rossi which lasted for several laps.

[476] Their relationship remained frosty for the beginning of 2016, but the feud came to an end when they shook hands after battling each other in Barcelona to remember Luis Salom, who died after crashing at high speed on the Catalan circuit.

[512] In December 2019, Rossi got the chance to swap rides with then six-time F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton at Circuit Ricardo Tormo, as part of a sponsor event.

[528] In December 2023, Rossi finished second on the podium at the Gulf 12 Hours at Abu Dhabi, the season finale of the 2023 Intercontinental GT Challenge driving the BMW M4 GT3 with Team WRT.

In the end, Rossi and teammates Dries Vanthoor and Nick Yelloly missed out on victory by 12 seconds to the Mercedes-AMG GT3 driven by Maro Engel, Luca Stolz and Mikael Grenier.

[533] In 2015 after winning the MotoGP race held at the TT Circuit Assen, Valentino Rossi made a special guest appearance at the prestigious Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Rossi appeared in public wearing a special yellow livery to commemorate Yamaha Motor's 60th anniversary with Kenny Roberts, Giacomo Agostini and Phil Read.

Valentino Rossi's time record was obtained during the 49th round of a total of 50 laps performed, 4.790 seconds adrift of WorldSBK debutant Nicolò Bulega as the official rider of Aruba.it-Ducati Racing.

Rossi was joined by Yamaha's World Superbike line-up, including six-time WorldSBK Champion Jonathan Rea and other riders Niccolò Canepa, Luca Cadalora, Andrea Locatelli, and Dominique Aegerter.

The anarchists considered Rossi "guilty" because at the time he rode for Honda's MotoGP factory team, it had been sponsored by the oil company Repsol since 1994, (for which he filmed a commercial in Spain.)

[568] It noted that in 2002, Rossi's Italian tax form declared earnings of 500 euros, while sponsorship contracts were all reported to be made out to foreign companies, but with his affairs controlled mainly from Italy.

1949  L. Graham 1950  U. Masetti 1951  G. Duke 1952  U. Masetti 1953  G. Duke 1954  G. Duke 1955  G. Duke 1956  J. Surtees 1957  L. Liberati 1958  J. Surtees 1959  J. Surtees 1960  J. Surtees 1961  G. Hocking 1962  M. Hailwood 1963  M. Hailwood 1964  M. Hailwood 1965  M. Hailwood 1966  G. Agostini 1967  G. Agostini 1968  G. Agostini 1969  G. Agostini 1970  G. Agostini 1971  G. Agostini 1972  G. Agostini 1973  P. Read 1974  P. Read 1975  G. Agostini 1976  B. Sheene 1977  B. Sheene 1978  K. Roberts 1979  K. Roberts 1980  K. Roberts 1981  M. Lucchinelli 1982  F. Uncini 1983  F. Spencer 1984  E. Lawson 1985  F. Spencer 1986  E. Lawson 1987  W. Gardner 1988  E. Lawson 1989  E. Lawson 1990  W. Rainey 1991  W. Rainey 1992  W. Rainey 1993  K. Schwantz 1994  M. Doohan 1995  M. Doohan 1996  M. Doohan 1997  M. Doohan 1998  M. Doohan 1999  À. Crivillé 2000  K. Roberts Jr. 2001  V. Rossi 2002  V. Rossi 2003  V. Rossi 2004  V. Rossi 2005  V. Rossi 2006  N. Hayden 2007  C. Stoner 2008  V. Rossi 2009  V. Rossi 2010  J. Lorenzo 2011  C. Stoner 2012  J. Lorenzo 2013  M. Márquez 2014  M. Márquez 2015  J. Lorenzo 2016  M. Márquez 2017  M. Márquez 2018  M. Márquez 2019  M. Márquez 2020  J. Mir 2021  F. Quartararo 2022  F. Bagnaia 2023  F. Bagnaia 2024  J. Martín 1949  B. Ruffo 1950  D. Ambrosini 1951  B. Ruffo 1952  E. Lorenzetti 1953  W. Haas 1954  W. Haas 1955  H. Müller 1956  C. Ubbiali 1957  C. Sandford 1958  T. Provini 1959  C. Ubbiali 1960  C. Ubbiali 1961  M. Hailwood 1962  J. Redman 1963  J. Redman 1964  P. Read 1965  P. Read 1966  M. Hailwood 1967  M. Hailwood 1968  P. Read 1969  K. Carruthers 1970  R. Gould 1971  P. Read 1972  J. Saarinen 1973  D. Braun 1974  W. Villa 1975  W. Villa 1976  W. Villa 1977  M. Lega 1978  K. Ballington 1979  K. Ballington 1980  A. Mang 1981  A. Mang 1982  J. Tournadre 1983  C. Lavado 1984  C. Sarron 1985  F. Spencer 1986  C. Lavado 1987  A. Mang 1988  S. Pons 1989  S. Pons 1990  J. Kocinski 1991  L. Cadalora 1992  L. Cadalora 1993  T. Harada 1994  M. Biaggi 1995  M. Biaggi 1996  M. Biaggi 1997  M. Biaggi 1998  L. Capirossi 1999  V. Rossi 2000  O. Jacque 2001  D. Kato 2002  M. Melandri 2003  M. Poggiali 2004  D. Pedrosa 2005  D. Pedrosa 2006  J. Lorenzo 2007  J. Lorenzo 2008  M. Simoncelli 2009  H. Aoyama 2010  T. Elías 2011  S. Bradl 2012  M. Márquez 2013  P. Espargaró 2014  T. Rabat 2015  J. Zarco 2016  J. Zarco 2017  F. Morbidelli 2018  F. Bagnaia 2019  Á. Márquez 2020  E. Bastianini 2021  R. Gardner 2022  A. Fernández 2023  P. Acosta 2024  A. Ogura 1949  N. Pagani 1950  B. Ruffo 1951  C. Ubbiali 1952  C. Sandford 1953  W. Haas 1954  R. Hollaus 1955  C. Ubbiali 1956  C. Ubbiali 1957  T. Provini 1958  C. Ubbiali 1959  C. Ubbiali 1960  C. Ubbiali 1961  T. Phillis 1962  L. Taveri 1963  H. Anderson 1964  L. Taveri 1965  H. Anderson 1966  L. Taveri 1967  B. Ivy 1968  P. Read 1969  D. Simmonds 1970  D. Braun 1971  Á. Nieto 1972  Á. Nieto 1973  K. Andersson 1974  K. Andersson 1975  P. Pileri 1976  P. Bianchi 1977  P. Bianchi 1978  E. Lazzarini 1979  Á. Nieto 1980  P. Bianchi 1981  Á. Nieto 1982  Á. Nieto 1983  Á. Nieto 1984  Á. Nieto 1985  F. Gresini 1986  L. Cadalora 1987  F. Gresini 1988  J. Martínez 1989  À. Crivillé 1990  L. Capirossi 1991  L. Capirossi 1992  A. Gramigni 1993  D. Raudies 1994  K. Sakata 1995  H. Aoki 1996  H. Aoki 1997  V. Rossi 1998  K. Sakata 1999  E. Alzamora 2000  R. Locatelli 2001  M. Poggiali 2002  A. Vincent 2003  D. Pedrosa 2004  A. Dovizioso 2005  T. Lüthi 2006  Á. Bautista 2007  G. Talmácsi 2008  M. Di Meglio 2009  J. Simón 2010  M. Márquez 2011  N. Terol 2012  S. Cortese 2013  M. Viñales 2014  Á. Márquez 2015  D. Kent 2016  B. Binder 2017  J. Mir 2018  J. Martín 2019  L. Dalla Porta 2020  A. Arenas 2021  P. Acosta 2022  I. Guevara 2023  J. Masià 2024  D. Alonso Giacomo Agostini, Hideo Kanaya, Kenny Roberts, Eddie Lawson, Wayne Rainey, John Kocinski, Luca Cadalora, Norifumi Abe, Max Biaggi, Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo, Ben Spies, Maverick Viñales, Fabio Quartararo Freddie Spencer, Takazumi Katayama, Randy Mamola, Wayne Gardner, Mick Doohan, Daryl Beattie, Àlex Crivillé, Tadayuki Okada Valentino Rossi, Tohru Ukawa, Nicky Hayden, Dani Pedrosa, Andrea Dovizioso, Casey Stoner, Marc Márquez