Roberto “Roby” Rolfo made his Grand Prix debut with Honda in 1998, after clinching third in the 250 European Championship the previous year, and had several quiet seasons before taking fourth overall and Best Privateer in 2001. Rolfo was signed up by Honda's factory effort in 2002, finishing third in the Championship with seven podiums. In 2003, he scored his first two wins and finished runner-up to Manuel Poggiali, taking the title fight to the final round, but endured a disappointing final season in the class in 2004 despite a solitary win at a rain-soaked Jerez. The Italian contested his MotoGP rookie season in 2005 as the only rider of the d'Antin Ducati team, finishing inside the points nine times to enter the final standings in 18th. After a five-year absence from the World Championship he returned for the introduction of Moto2 in 2010, winning the Malaysian GP. Another season away in 2011 is followed by a return to Moto2 in 2012, this time with the Technomag-CIP Team.