The rider from Tavullia landed in 2000 in the premier class, then 500cc. He was about to take the title the first time, but a difficult start to the season left him runner-up in the world behind Kenny Roberts Jr. Rossi, who had won the 125cc (1997) and 250cc (1999) titles, aspired to become the second driver in history to be crowned in all three categories.
After a year of learning, the #46 started 2001 with a bang. He won the first three races of the season and began to lay the foundations for his first title in the maximum displacement. Despite ‘clicking’ in Mugello under a downpour, Rossi showed up at the penultimate round of the year in Australia with his first match ball .
Rossi arrived at Phillip Island with 67 points over his archenemy Max Biaggi and it served him well to finish eighth in the race, but he wanted to be champion in a big way. The Roman took pole position on Saturday and although it was enough for the Honda rider to mark his rival, he took the maximum risk during the highly disputed 27 laps.
Not even the presence of outsiders such as Alex Barros, Noriyuki Haga or Olivier Jacque at the start off centered the virtual champion, who risked victory with Biaggi in the last lap. The two Italians even came close to touching each other and finally the duel fell on Rossi’s side by 13 thousandths.
Thus, Il Dottore made history by becoming the youngest world champion to win all three titles, at the age of 22, three decades after the British Phil Read. Rossi set a record that only Marc Márquez has subsequently been able to break, although in his case he did so in 125cc, Moto2 and MotoGP.
(Click on this link or on the image to see the photos of the 2001 season of Valentino Rossi in 500cc)
