Valentino Rossi has picked out his own top three wins from across his career and believes havꦿing a strong riva🦂lry helped him raise his own performance level to greater heights.

The nine-time world champion has amassed 115 wins across his Grand Prix career but feels three vic♋tories stand out above the rest to make them his best performan🌠ces.

Rossi has picked out his win on debut for Yamaha at the 2004 MotoGP opener in Welkom, making the Italian the 🌠first rider in history to win consecutive Gr🐠and Prix premier class races for two different manufacturers, alongside his battle against Casey Stoner at the 2008 United States GP at Laguna Seca and his last-corner victory against Jorge Lorenzo at the 2009 Catalunya GP in Barcelona.

The Italian says he ranks these three wi🐓ns as his equal best as he discussed the greatest races of his cꦑareer.

“In my personal ranking of the victories of my career, I have three victories that are, Welkom in 2004 the first victory I had with Yamaha, Laguna Seca 2008 the battle with Stoner and Barcelona 2009, the battl📖e until the last corner with Jorge Lorenzo.🔜 They are my best three,”

In all three of those victories Rossi was embroiled in a fierce rivalry which he feels gave him the extra motivation to raise his perfo😼rmance level, while also 🐓having the same effect on his competitors.

“I had great, great battles with Max Biaggi, Sete Gibernau and later with Jorge Lorenzo,” he said. “And when you ha💛ve a rivalry like this it is the fuel to increase the performance of everybody, it raises the level.

“This is because the battle and the fight starts and after it can become something a little bit 🐻personal, so this means that you can give the maximum and give more to fight a rival and to arrive in front as it raises the level.”