World MotoGP champion Rossi arriving Saturday to help ‘Yolanda’ relief campaign

ROSSI is one of the most successful motorbike racers of all time.

Italian multiple MotoGP World champion Valentino Rossi, considered one of the most successful motorbike racers of all time with nine titles under his belt, will visit the country this Saturday, Feb. 23, to promote his Yamaha team’s corporate social responsibility efforts to help the victims of Supertyphoon “Yolanda” under a project called “Champions Rebuild Lives.”

Rossi and his team will try to help raise funds for the Yolanda relief campaign by selling limited-edition racing items donated by the MotoGP team to collectors, and MotoGP and motorbike fans.

Born in  Feb. 16,  1979, Rossi followed the footsteps of his father Graziano and started Grand Prix (GP) racing in 1996 in the 125 cc category, winning his first world GP championship shortly afterward.

Valentino started racing in the Grand Prix in 1996 for Aprilia in the 125 cc category and won his first world championship the following year. From there, there was no stopping him as he moved up to the 250 cc category, winning the world championship in 1999. He moved on to the premier class in 2000, winning the 500 cc world championship and MotoGP World Championship in 2001 and 2002.

Today, he ranks first in the 500 cc MotoGP win standings with 80 victories and second in all-time overall win standings with 106 race wins, 16 wins shy of Giacomo Agostini’s record of 122.

Called by his fans “The Doctor” or “Goat,” which is an acronym for “Greatest of All Time,” he has always raced under No. 46 all throughout his motorcycle Grand Prix career as his father did in the first of his three Grand Prix career wins. Traditionally, a world championship winner is accorded the privilege of using the No. 1 sticker for the following season. However, Rossi has stayed with the now-famous No. 46 throughout his career; although he uses the No. 1 patch on the shoulder of his racing suit.