Valentino Rossi was born in Urbino in 1979, in the Marche region of Italy, and his family moved to Tavullia when he was still very young. He is the son of former motorcycle racer Graziano Rossi, and his father introduced him to racing at an early age. Initially, Valentino discovered his love for racing by driving go-karts. Already by the tender age of five he showed no fear and just wanted to go as fast as his go-kart could take him; so much so that his father replaced Valentino’s 60 cc engine with a national-level kart engine of 100 cc. So Valentino's natural racing talent came over loud and clear from the very beginning
Rossi won the regional karting championship in 1990, at the age of 11, then he happened to try a mini motorbike, and it was love at first sight. He decided right then and there that he would eventually swap his go karts for motorbikes, but for a few years he continued to do both, and he seemed to be on course for racing Formula 1. There was a point when Valentino Rossi found himself at a crossroads, and when the time came to choose between cars and bikes, the extremely high cost of training for a Formula 1 career became the main determining factor, so at that point he the decision was made: motorbikes it was.
As a child, the world of racing had a strong pull for Rossi, and, thanks to the access granted to him by his father’s career, he was able to spend much of his time hanging around the paddocks where he was loud and playful, and made himself known to all in attendance. Valentino was very vivacious, but he always settled down immediately whenever the conversation turned to motorbikes, and he had the opportunity to learn something.
In 1993, Rossi competed in the Italian Sport Production 125 Championship on a Cagiva Mito, but he didn’t manage to place. The following year, he was given a more powerful motorbike, and won the Italian title. In 1995, he moved to Aprilia and won the Italian championship again, as well as being ranked third in Europe at only 16 years old.
