Valentino Rossi is the Master of Mugello with seven Italian Grand Prix wins in MotoGP, making the Urbino native the most successful premier class rider at the circuit so far.
Only Giacomo Agostini with his 13 victories from the 500cc and 350cc classes has ever won the Italian GP more often than Rossi did in the premier class alone. Rossi even recorded nine Italian GP wins over all classes, having also won the 1997 125cc race and 1999 250cc race.
It took Rossi until the inaugural MotoGP season in 2002 to win the Italian GP in the premier class for the first time. But it even opened the floodgates, as the eventual seven-time riders’ champion would win at Mugello in every year from 2002 to 2008. Yet he never won it again.
Mugello was not always a happy hunting ground for the home legend, though. Rossi ‘never felt pain’ like after breaking his leg at the 2010 Italian GP when a crash during practice saw The Doctor sustain a compound fracture of his right tibia and fibula and missed four races.
Troy Bayliss called Valentino Rossi a ‘maniac’ after how he won the 2004 Italian Grand Prix
Rossi even made a slice of history at the 2004 Italian Grand Prix, as he won the shortest race in MotoGP history at Mugello. The Italian beat Sete Gibernau by 0.361s to conquer his home event in only 12 minutes and 6.803 seconds after red flags had annulled the initial race start.
The 2004 Italian GP would eventually only be a six-lap affair with riders on slick tyres around a half-wet Mugello, and Rossi was still hardly in the fight to win with three laps to go. Yet the Urbino native went hell for leather for glory in the last laps, as Rossi flew from fifth into first.
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Rossi still felt like he had a point to prove as the 2004 season hit Mugello in round four after leaving Honda for Yamaha on the back of winning three titles in a row. So, he threw caution to the wind with a ride to win the 2004 Italian GP that saw Troy Bayliss call Rossi a ‘maniac’.
Bayliss said, via Motor Sport Magazine: “You’ve got to hand it to Valentino, he puts it on the line. He must’ve convinced himself that it was dry because he was going like a maniac!”
Valentino Rossi ignored the rain to pass Troy Bayliss and win the 2004 Italian GP at Mugello
Rossi had won on his debut with Yamaha at the 2004 South African Grand Prix. Yet he would then only finish the Spanish Grand Prix and the French Grand Prix in P4, as Gibernau won at Jerez and also Le Mans. So, Rossi arrived for the Italian GP trailing the Spaniard by 15 points.
Max Biaggi also headed Rossi in the 2004 standings before the Italian GP by five points. He also had the chance to stretch his margin at Mugello when the Roman led off the line in the post-red flag race. Yet Norifumi Abe immediately got ahead of Biaggi at Turn 1 on slick tyres.
Alex Barros also pulled a move on Rossi at Arrabbiata 1 on Lap 1, which opened the door for Gibernau into Arrabbiata 2. The quintet quickly established themselves as the riders to beat, only for more rain elsewhere on the track to bring the likes of Bayliss straight back into play.
Ducati rider Bayliss even stole the lead of the 2004 Italian GP from Ruben Xaus on Lap 2 and started to open a margin at the front of the field. Rossi was still only sixth when Bayliss took the lead, yet soon picked off Gibernau and Xaus as the D’Antin star faded on his Ducati GP3.
Bayliss also led by 1.161s to Gibernau at the start of Lap 3, but Rossi made his move to edge into P2. It barely took the Italian any time to reel the Australian in and leave Gibernau et al in his shadow. Spots of rain were also not enough to prevent Rossi passing Bayliss in Savelli.
Rossi ultimately broke Bayliss on the penultimate lap, yet Gibernau would start to fight back. Clean air would also let the Telefonica Movistar Honda rider catch Rossi, but there were not enough laps remaining for Gibernau to jump the home hero as he won the 2004 Italian GP.
