It was Thursday afternoon at the MotoGP paddock, Valentino Rossi had already been proclaimed a race winner at Laguna Seca. The remarkable Italian rider will however have to wait until Sunday for his real shot at glory, the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix itself, but a SuperKart ‘exhibition’ against three MotoGP Legends provided Valentino Rossi with a early victory and the sweet taste of triumph.

World Champion Valentino Rossi was up against past titlists Eddie Lawson, Wayne Rainey and Kenny Roberts Sr., the run-out began as an exhibition between the Yamaha riders past and present on the American track. But as was bound to happen things got competitive with Valentino Rossi taking the win in a one-lap sprint.

Valentino Rossi’s three friendly rivals all trailed the form rider of the MotoGP class by a considerable margin, but Wayne Rainey said that perhaps, like in the 2008 premier class race at Laguna Seca, that Rossi of Fiat Yamaha man had been willing to play hard in order to cross the line ahead of the others.

“We had a plan, and it didn’t quite work. We were all going to stay together, but suddenly we looked round and said ‘where did Valentino go?’” said the SuperKart regular, who has competed in the discipline in recent years.

“It was a lot of fun, getting to race against these guys, and against Valentino for the first time. I maybe wasn’t so fast today…fourth fastest,” said Lawson, the final rider to pass the flag waved by Grand Marshall Colin Edwards.

Roberts, who span out early on and had to bring the riders back to the pits in order to change a chain laughed that it was all a joke “We’ve got to keep building Valentino’s confidence, building him up slowly to help him out. Now maybe he is ready to take the win on Sunday,” he added.

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Even though Casey Stoner has a strong record thus far at Laguna Seca, the young Australian is not prepared to make any big claims heading into the eighth round of the year, as he continues to recover from a recent illness.

Casey Stoner the 23 year-old Australian has placed third in the last two rounds, behind his World Championship rivals Jorge Lorenzo and current points leader Valentino Rossi at Catalunya and Assen, Stoner almost collapsed due to exhaustion after both races on the podium, due to the illness Stoner has lost the advantage to Rossi in the title race so far.

Casey Stoner and his physical condition could prove to be a deciding factor for the 2007 World Champion at Laguna, Stoner  has won the race in his title triumph season and was second last year.

“The last two GP weekends have not gone according to plan,” said Stoner. “We thought everything was going to be great in Assen, things started off really well and it just went downhill after that. We really struggled but we still came away with a podium and that was important for not losing too many points in the championship.”

“I’m hoping to have recovered by the time we get out on track for this weekend’s GP. I look forward to this race and I look forward to coming to the US every year so we will just have to see how we go. I enjoy the circuit and I’m sure the weather will be nice, but we just have to wait and see because I expected more from the last two and things didn’t go our way.” added Casey Stoner.

The Australian also commented on his visit to the Universal Studios Hollywood theme park, he said, “I was amazed, we did the tour and the things you get to see are great. It brings back so many memories because you think back to all the movies, almost every film you’ve ever seen and some part of it seems like it was filmed here. It’s really quite amazing to see and it was a lot of fun!”.

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Here are some interesting facts and figures on Valentino Rossi's 100 Grand Prix win career so far.

The victory at the Alice TT Assen saw Valentino Rossi become only the second rider in history to reach the 100 Grand Prix win milestone.

So lets have a look at some interesting statistics relating to Valentino Rossi’s colourful and triumphant march to a century of GP successes, along the way have brought him eight World titles across the three Grand Prix classes so far.

Valentino Rossi's 100 victories have come from 217 Grand Prix starts, a win rate over his career of a remarkable 46.1%.

Valentino Rossi has claimed victory on six types of motorcycle, it all began with the 125cc Aprilia (12 wins), 250cc Aprilia (14 wins), 500cc Honda (13 wins), 990cc Honda (20 wins), 990cc Yamaha (25 wins) and 800cc Yamaha (16 wins).

Rossi has 41 wins for Yamaha, which is more than any other rider. The second most successful Yamaha rider in history is Phil Read with 39 victories.

Valentino Rossi has won Grand Prix races at 27 different circuits during his illustrious career. Although the circuits at which he has been most successful at are Mugello and Catalunya with nine wins at each.

The most wins that the great Valentino Rossi has had in a single season is 11, he has remarkably achieved this on four occasions: 1997 (125cc), 2001 (500cc), 2002 and 2005 in MotoGP.

In 1997 Valentino Rossi had 11 wins a record for most victories in a single season in the 125cc class.

The Italian has 74 race victories in the premier class which is more than any other rider in the 61-year history of Grand Prix racing.

After his sensational win at the Jerez circuit earlier this year Valentino Rossi became the first rider to achieve at least one Grand Prix victory for 14 successive seasons.

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It would appear that with every race win, that Valentino Rossi reaches a Grand Prix milestone and with that his legacy grows, the charismatic Italian has now reached a century of World Championship wins with his latest coming on Saturday in Assen. The Fiat Yamaha rider had less of a battle on his hands than two weeks prior in Barcelona, and was in better condition to give an animated celebration, Valentino Rossi celebrated by revealing a banner and a photo with an ‘old school’ camera.

“It’s a fantastic achievement. 100 victories is a great number. Thanks to all the guys who have helped me to reach this number –my teams over the past ten years, Jeremy Burgess and especially all my close friends and family for giving me motivation. We hope to win some other races though!” added Valentino Rossi after stepping onto the podium with his custom made ‘100’ flag, representing his milestone victories.

Valentino Rossi also commented on the race, in which he led for almost the entirety after having pole, the World Champion said “I had a good feeling and knew that I was very fast on two or three points in the track, so I tried to get out to the front as soon as possible and impose my rhythm. It was a perfect race because any mistakes would have a high cost. I knew that Lorenzo was very strong, so I tried to take an advantage."

“It’s been two races that the bike has had a good setting. This year the bike is fantastic, and we hope to continue in this way.”

Valentino Rossi will not have a whole lot of time to celbrate the win because the MotoGP World Championship takes a swift transatlantic flight to Laguna Seca, California for this weekend’s Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix, Although Rossi did win at Laguna Seca last year he knows that it is always tough in the US.

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Italian superstar Valentino Rossi has won his 100th Grand Prix, Rossi took his second win in a row and with it became the undisputed leader of the MotoGP World Championship with another vintage stellar Rossi like performance at the Alice TT Assen. The Fiat Yamaha rider had a peerless performance from pole position and, unlike two weeks previous in Barcelona, needed no ‘Hail Mary’ last lap at the Cathedral of Motorcycle Racing in which he controlled the race throughout.

The race win was followed by a Valentino Rossi customary celebration in which he revealed a backdrop and posing for a classic photo with a antique styled, the Italian’s latest post-race show with his faithful fan club.

Fellow Fiat Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo was once again forced to settle for the second step on the podium. Lorenzo recovered from a bad start from third on the grid and, although he was able to fight back up to the front, Lorenzo was not able to challenge Valentino Rossi the same way he did at the last race.

Third place on the podium went to Ducati Marlboro’s Casey Stoner of Australia, Stoner completed the podium with a solitary ride chasing Lorenzo. Rossi now has a slight edge over his two fierce rivals after the Assen race.

Colin Edwards equaled his best result of the year crossing the line in fourth place, Edwards was at the head of an enthralling battle between the ‘best of the rest’. Rizla Suzuki’s Chris Vermeulen and Edwards’ Monster Yamaha Tech 3 teammate James Toseland were also in the top six with their best finishes of the season to date.

Both Repsol Honda riders Andrea Dovizioso and Dani Pedrosa were in podiums reach but had suffered crashes and did not coplete the race. On the last lap of the race Pramac Racing’s Mika Kallio also crashed out when he was challenging for sixth on the final lap, he appeared to have sustained a hand injury of some type.

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