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6th – Valentino Rossi
Average score out of ten: 6.91
Team: Yamaha Factory Racing
Bike: YZR-M1 (Factory)
Wins: 1
Podiums: 6
Poles: 0
Fastest Laps: 1
Championship points: 237 (13.2 points per start average)
Championship position: 4th out of 27
Valentino Rossi's return to Yamaha netted his first MotoGP race victory since 2010 and his highest Crash.net Star of the Year ranking since that same season - but the Italian legend was still voted two places below his championship position.
The only double winner of the Crash.net vote, in 2008 and 2009, Rossi didn't even make the top ten last year, with viewers awarding an average ranking of just 5.11 out of 10 for his final season at Ducati. That improved to 6.91 and sixth place in this year's poll, after a season of highs and lows for the seven time MotoGP champion.
A feisty ride to the podium during the Qatar season opener proved Rossi had lost none of his fighting spirit, but thereafter he often struggled to get on terms with the 'top three'. Indeed, the number four summed up Rossi's season - The Doctor finished in fourth place on no less than eight occasions, on his way to fourth in the world championship.
An emotional victory at Assen - a race you voted as the most entertaining of the season - proved the high point of Rossi's year, while six podiums doubled his total rostrum score at Ducati and the #46 showed he had lost none of his racecraft by regularly thwarting his nearest opponents in final lap battles.
But more ultimate pace was needed and the lowest point arguably came at the Valencia finale, when - even with his race leading team-mate Jorge Lorenzo attempting to slow down the field - Rossi was unable to join the victory fight.
By then, news had already broken that Rossi had decided to split from crew chief Jerry Burgess as the 34-year-old seeks to get on terms with Marc Marquez, Dani Pedrosa and Lorenzo in 2014.
Never previously beaten by a MotoGP team-mate in the world championship standings, barring his 2010 leg breaking injury, Rossi finished this season 93 points shy of title runner-up Lorenzo.
About the vote:
Over 30,000 votes were cast for the 2013 Crash.net MotoGP Star of the Year poll, where viewers were asked to award each of this year's full-time participants - only Ben Spies and Karel Abraham, injured for large parts of the season, were not included - with a mark out of ten.
The only double winner of the Crash.net vote, in 2008 and 2009, Rossi didn't even make the top ten last year, with viewers awarding an average ranking of just 5.11 out of 10 for his final season at Ducati. That improved to 6.91 and sixth place in this year's poll, after a season of highs and lows for the seven time MotoGP champion.
A feisty ride to the podium during the Qatar season opener proved Rossi had lost none of his fighting spirit, but thereafter he often struggled to get on terms with the 'top three'. Indeed, the number four summed up Rossi's season - The Doctor finished in fourth place on no less than eight occasions, on his way to fourth in the world championship.
An emotional victory at Assen - a race you voted as the most entertaining of the season - proved the high point of Rossi's year, while six podiums doubled his total rostrum score at Ducati and the #46 showed he had lost none of his racecraft by regularly thwarting his nearest opponents in final lap battles.
But more ultimate pace was needed and the lowest point arguably came at the Valencia finale, when - even with his race leading team-mate Jorge Lorenzo attempting to slow down the field - Rossi was unable to join the victory fight.
By then, news had already broken that Rossi had decided to split from crew chief Jerry Burgess as the 34-year-old seeks to get on terms with Marc Marquez, Dani Pedrosa and Lorenzo in 2014.
Never previously beaten by a MotoGP team-mate in the world championship standings, barring his 2010 leg breaking injury, Rossi finished this season 93 points shy of title runner-up Lorenzo.
About the vote:
Over 30,000 votes were cast for the 2013 Crash.net MotoGP Star of the Year poll, where viewers were asked to award each of this year's full-time participants - only Ben Spies and Karel Abraham, injured for large parts of the season, were not included - with a mark out of ten.
The average score for each rider was then used to determine the final ranking, which will be revealed in full once the winner is announced.
