It all started on the 18th of April 2004 when Valentino Rossi clinched victory at the South African Grand Prix on his very first outing with Yamaha. Since then, the pair have had an incredible partnership with The Doctor piloting a Yamaha M1 to four premier class World Championships. A marriage that has stretched over 15 MotoGP™ seasons will come to an end next year when the Italian moves to the satellite squad, Petronas Yamaha SRT. Here, we take a look at his finest moments in the royal blue of factory Yamaha in a trip down motogp.com's memory lane.

2004

WATCH - We start this video gallery with one of Rossi's finest career moments: his debut win with Yamaha at Welkom. Fighting off arch-rival Max Biaggi in the closing stages, The Doctor became the only man in MotoGP™ history to win back-to-back races with different manufacturers.

WATCH - After three consecutive titles with Honda, Rossi silenced the doubters by winning his fourth MotoGP™ title in a row and, more importantly, his first of four with Yamaha.

WATCH - The Doctor details the ins and outs of his first season with the Iwata factory below, in an in-depth interview following his sixth World Championship crown.

2005

Another year and another title for Rossi and Yamaha in 2005. It would be Rossi's fifth straight MotoGP™ crown, a feat that is yet to be bettered in the modern-era of the premier class. Here's how The Doctor clinched another title in Sepang, despite coming across the line in second behind Ducati's Loris Capirossi.

WATCH - One of the iconic Valentino Rossi celebrations as he celebrates his seventh World Championship with who else than Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

WATCH - Hear from the Italian as he tries to put into words another World Championship crown, after helping Yamaha take back-to-back titles.

2006

WATCH - The streak was brought to an end in one of the stand-out MotoGP™ seasons. Rossi wasn't crowned premier class Champion for the first time since 2000 when American Nicky Hayden clinched an emotional debut World Championship. 2006 was full of highs and lows for the Italian, perfectly illustrated below.

2007

WATCH - Another difficult year for Rossi as the ended the 2007 World Championship in third place, his lowest position in the standings since the 1996 125cc World Championship. However, The Doctor was able to bring to an end what was, at the time, his longest winless streak in the MotoGP™ class of five races in Jerez.

2008

WATCH - The Doctor is back. After two frustrating seasons where Rossi and Yamaha lost the title for two consecutive seasons to Nicky Hayden's Honda and Casey Stoner's Ducati, he switched from Michelin to Bridgestone tyres and was back on top of the world again. Here are the eight steps that helped him to his eighth title.

WATCH - Seven minutes with the Italian as he sits down with motogp.com at the conclusion of the 2008 season to detail the key moments from his year.

And how can we talk about 2008 and not touch on the 2008 United States Grand Prix. Rossi vs Stoner. Laguna Seca. The Corkscrew. Need we say more? In this flashback video from 2018, both Rossi and Stoner reflect on the iconic MotoGP™ moment.

2009

Recently voted by British MotoGP™ fans as the greatest race: Catalunya 2009. Another iconic Rossi moment as he beat teammate and fellow Yamaha man Jorge Lorenzo on the final lap. Last year, ten years on from the race, we spoke to those involved in the Barcelona battle.

WATCH - Another World Championship title for the Italian means another celebration, once again coming at the Sepang International Circuit. Relive all of The Doctor's antics.

2010

WATCH - In a season marred by injury after breaking his leg at his home round in Mugello, it was a year the Italian would surely like to forget. However, The Doctor battled back and finally stood on the top step of the podium once again in 2010 after claiming victory in Malaysia.

2010 also marked the end of an era, as Rossi would leave Yamaha for Ducati at the end of the season. Here's a look back at the first six years of the Rossi and Yamaha partnership.

2013

WATCH - After two years away from the blue of Yamaha, Rossi returned in 2013 and it didn't take him long before we have once again back on the top step of the podium. After over two and a half years and, incredibly, 46 races without tasting victory, The Doctor took the chequered flag at the Dutch TT.

2014

WATCH - Just over a year later, Rossi would clinch victory on home soil for the first time in four years after beating Jorge Lorenzo to the line at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli. Take a look at some behind-the-scenes footage of the Italian's win.

WATCH - "It's incredible to do it front of this crowd, all my friends, all my family" - watch Rossi's post-race interview after clinching his first victory of the 2014 season.  

2015

WATCH - One of the most infamous MotoGP™ seasons of all time, as Rossi narrowly missed out on a tenth World Championship title at the final race of the year in Valenica. Here's a full recap of The Doctor's year.

2016

WATCH - Incredibly at 37 years of age and after 274 premier class races, Valentino Rossi is still breaking new ground. At the Circuito de Jerez - Angel Nieto, the Italian started from pole position, lead every lap and won the race for the first time in his illustrious career.

2017

To date, his last MotoGP™ victory. Rossi held off a charging Danilo Petrucci to take win number 115 of his Grand Prix career. After the race, he spoke with motogp.com about what it feels like to be a premier class race winner again at nearly 40-year-old.

2018

2018 marked one of the most staggering stats of Valentino Rossi's career when on lap 15 of the Spanish Grand Prix, he completed the 40,075th kilometre of his career. Therefore, The Doctor had done a full lap of the world throughout his Grand Prix career.

2019

WATCH - Last year's Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island was Valentino Rossi's 400th career Grand Prix. We reflected on the greatest moments from his career as one of the greats of MotoGP™ and Grand Prix racing reached an unbelievable career milestone.

Rossi also sat down for twenty minutes with MotoGP™'s Matt Birt as he reflected on his life in the paddock over the past twenty years.

WATCH - Finally, MotoGP™ Legends share their thoughts on someone who is no doubt a future MotoGP™ Legend. Wayne Rainey, Kenny Roberts, Kevin Schwantz, Casey Stoner and more give their thoughts about the nine-time MotoGP™ World Champion.