Legendary Italian Valentino Rossi will celebrate his 300th premier class start in the world championship this weekend during the British Grand Prix.

Rossi, who debuted in 500GP during 2000 before it became MotoGP in 2002, has had a remarkable career with nine world championships to date.

The Movistar Yamaha star enters Silverstone fourth in the championship standings, 33 points outside of current leader Marc Marquez. A recent test at Misano will be of benefit when MotoGP hits the track for Friday practice.

“We go to Silverstone after a day of testing in Misano and I want to go back on track immediately to find out if we have been able to find positive solutions to improve our bike,” Rossi stated. “Silverstone is a very fun and beautiful track, but also very demanding.

“This track is very long and there are so many changes of direction at high speed. It’s important to find a perfect set-up of the bike, in braking and in the fast corners. It‘s a really nice track for me and for my riding style. I want to do a good weekend and fight for the podium!”

Rossi captured his first-career premier class victory in Britain during his rookie season at Donington Park, also winning at Silverstone in 2015.