With Valentino Rossi recently ticking off a 300th grand prix milestone, CycleOnline.com.au takes a closer look at the Top 10 greatest race bikes ridden by the Italian superstar. Certainly, these are subjective and difficult to split, so we’ve gone in chronological order, from earliest to most recent.

Source: MotoGP.

1997 Nastro Azzurro Aprilia RS125
While Rossi would debut in the world championship aboard the Aprilia RS125 in 1996, it was the following season that he would step into the factory fold and ultimately make his name as one of the sport’s emerging talents. He won the season opener in Malaysia from pole and added 10 more wins across the course of the season to be crowned 125cc world champion at the age of 18.

1999 Aprilia Grand Prix Racing RS250
Much like his introduction to the 125cc fold, it took Rossi a season to wrangle the best out of the Aprilia RS250. In 1998 he was a narrow runner-up to teammate Loris Capirossi, with five wins and a total of nine podiums. With some of the immense pressure released, 1999 proved to be another successful and defining year in his path to the sport’s premier classes. Rossi won nine races and was on the podium at 12 of the 16 grands prix. It was his second title and also his last with Aprilia as the lure of the bigger leagues beckoned.

2001 Nastro Azzurro Honda NSR500
Another two-year stint and another close call to select the most successful season, but there really is no greater consideration than a world championship win. Rossi stepped onto the all-conquering NSR500 in 2000, quickly learning the ropes with the likes of Mick Doohan and Jeremy Burgess in his corner. He would pilot the bike to two wins in his debut season, setting himself up for what was becoming a typical onslaught of success the following year. Now well-acquainted with his machinery, he opened the season with three wins in a row and scored a total of 11 (including four in a row to see out the year) to claim the title of world champion in the 500cc ranks. It was a significant milestone for this model of bike, which would be phased out of competition with the introduction of MotoGP rules and more powerful prototype machinery.

2002 Repsol Honda RC211V
As detailed, 2002 represented a monumental shift for grand prix racing. A raft of changes resulted in Honda bringing on line its new RC211V, a tag indicative of the bike being the first of its kind in the 21st century. Naturally Rossi remained with Honda for the changeover to the 990cc machine and despite the various adaptations required, he would go on to win 10 races and claim the world title with relative ease, despite his place as a satellite rider behind the factory fold. The Italian’s dominance on the new Honda was underlined by a streak of seven unbeaten outings from round three onwards.

2003 Repsol Honda RC211V
HRC gleaned plenty of data from its debut season on the RC211V so it was no wonder that the bike came out firing the following season. While Rossi’s win rate wasn’t as great, his podium appearance percentage hit a perfect 100, allowing him to easily seal the deal. The Rossi/RC211V pairing was so successful, however, that many began to chalk up the achievements to the man and not the machine. It was this level of disconcert that saw the Italian seek out a new brand for 2004, abandoning his post in a factory position after one year.

Source: MotoGP.

2004 Gauloises Yamaha YZR-M1
After being tempted by Ducati, Rossi made the surprising switch to Yamaha, whose efforts in MotoGP had thus far been dwarfed by the achievements of the RC211V. It wasn’t just Rossi who made the move to the M1, however, with Burgess plus a handful of his crew joining him on the ride. With the sport’s shining star in its stable, Yamaha invested heavily into improving the M1, with its winter testing program paying dividends. It made significant gains in the bike’s power delivery and the proof was in the pudding when new recruit Rossi set the fastest lap in the pre-season test. These gains resulted in Rossi winning not only the season opener but a total of nine grands prix, seeing off Honda’s challengers for another world title.

2005 Gauloises Yamaha YZR-M1
2005 proved another standout season for Rossi and the YZR-M1, with man and machine serving to dominate on an even greater level. Rossi won 11 races and was on the podium on all but one occasion, handing him the world title by an astonishing 147 points. He later went on record to note the 2005 incarnation of the bike as the best he had ever ridden.

2008 Fiat Yamaha YZR-M1
Rossi remained on board the Yamaha despite two difficult seasons and was rewarded with another world title in 2008. The M1 would face a great challenge from Australia’s Casey Stoner, who had seemingly re-written the formula to make Ducati competitive at the front. Rossi won nine races and was a consistent podium finisher, setting himself up for another strong season the year following.

2009 Fiat Yamaha YZR-M1
Rossi would guide the Fiat-backed Yamaha to another world title in 2009, this time forced to fend off the advances of teammate Jorge Lorenzo who would win four races versus Rossi’s six. The Italian’s experience would tide him over but the dominance he’d enjoyed paired with the M1 in seasons past was being whittled away by a new breed of competition. 2009 was a milestone year in that it marked Rossi’s most recent world championship, a target he continues to eye off some five years later.

2014 Yamaha YZR-M1
Let’s not mention 2011 and 2012 and skip straight to the present. It remains to be seen as to whether Rossi’s grand reuniting with Yamaha in 2013 or his seemingly resurgent showing in 2014 will be categorised as ‘better’ or ‘best’. He eked out a win at Assen last year but, with the self-imposed deadlines of deciding on his future early in 2014, has fired out of the blocks with gusto this season. A strong second in Qatar and now three consecutive podiums show that Rossi is still right at home on the YZR-M1, despite no longer having Jeremy Burgess in his corner. The future is yet to be written and it will be a tough ask, if not impossible, to dethrone Marc Marquez, but there is potential yet for this year and this bike to be another defining one in the career of the sport’s best ever.