MotoGP: Rossi Confirmed to Continue Career with Petronas Yamaha SRT

Valentino Rossi will continue his career and joins Petronas Yamaha SRT for 2021.

Rossi has been linked with a move to the satellite outfit since losing his factory ride to Fabio Quartararo. However, negotiations reportedly stalled over disagreements on the Italian taking his crew with him.

The nine-times world champion has now penned a contract with the Malaysian team for 2021, although he will move without his long-serving mechanics Alex Briggs and Brent Stephens. Rossi will be riding a full-factory spec machine within the satellite team and receive full support from Yamaha.

Rossi commented on the done deal:

“I am very happy to continue riding in 2021 and to do it with the Petronas Yamaha Sepang Racing Team. I thought a lot before taking this decision, because the challenge is getting hotter and hotter. To be at the top in MotoGP you have to work a lot and hard, to train every day and lead an ’athlete’s life‘, but I still like it and I still want to ride.

In the first half of the year I made my choice and I talked with Yamaha, who agreed with me. They told me even if there was no place for me in the Factory Team, the factory bike and the factory support were guaranteed.

The 41-year-old was released from the works squad in favour of young hopeful Quartararo earlier this year. Rossi initially stated he would need a couple of races to determine whether to continue his career further and tied the decision to competitiveness.

I am very happy to move to Petronas Yamaha SRT. They are young, but they have shown to be a top team. They are very serious and very well organised. For this year I also changed my crew chief. I’m very happy with David, and I think we haven’t reached our best yet. This was one of the reasons why I chose to continue, because the atmosphere in the team is something I like a lot.

It’ll be nice to have Franco as my team-mate, as he’s an Academy rider, it’s going to be cool. I think we can work together to make good things happen.”

– Valentino Rossi

It however soon became clear that Rossi would take up the offer to join the satellite outfit with factory support and an announcement has been expected for months. Resigning for Yamaha while moving to Petronas required paperwork to be agreed between Italy, Japan and Malaysia though and delayed a finalisation of the agreement.

Furthermore, negotiations stalled over how many of Rossi’s current crew would make the move with him. It has been revealed that only crew chief David Munoz, data technician Matteo Flamigni and coach Idalio Gavira will join the veteran in the Petronas garage.

Petronas Yamaha SRT Director Johan Stigefelt said:

“To be able to sign a rider like Valentino Rossi, for what will be only our third year in the MotoGP championship, is amazing. We have evolved from a Moto3 team to a Moto2 team to a MotoGP team in a short time frame and now to be leading the MotoGP teams’ championship and signing one of the greatest riders the sport has ever known is incredible.

It has been a long time since Valentino was in a satellite team and we will try our best to help him feel like new again. We want to make sure that he feels comfortable in our team, which we trust in and believe in so much. Our target is to get even better as a team, help Rossi deliver the best results possible and make 2021 a memorable year.”

Johan Stigefelt

An Incomparable Career

Rossi is set for his 22^nd premier class season in 2021. He spent the majority of his racing time with Yamaha, having joined the factory first in 2004 after departing from Honda. He stayed with the team until 2010 when he left for Ducati. However, after a two-season stint with the Bologna factory, he rejoined Yamaha and has been with them since.

In the premier class alone, Rossi collected 89 race wins, 199 podiums, 55 pole positions and 76 fastest laps.

After starting into the 2020 campaign with a DNF in Jerez, Il Dottore went through his second adolescence. He racked up a podium in Andalucia and followed up with top 5 finishes at Brno and Spielberg. Rossi was on course for his 200^th GP rostrum at his home race in Misano and was only narrowly beaten on the final laps.

Petronas Yamaha SRT debuted at the Qatar GP in 2019 and enter only their third MotoGP season in 2021. The Malaysian outfit achieved six pole positions and seven podiums in their first year in the premier class alone and added another two poles, four podiums and three race wins to their tally in 2021 – giving them the lead in the Teams’ Championship.

Team Principal Razlan Razali commented on the finalised agreement and the team’s 2021 prospects:

“Valentino’s experience will be a great asset to the team as we move into our third season in MotoGP and we are sure we will be able to learn a lot from him. At the same time, we will do our absolute best to assist him to be competitive to reward him for the trust he has in us as a team.

We are humbled by this opportunity and ready to take on the challenge. We believe that the combination of Valentino and Franco will provide a truly formidable force on track to help us in our goal of being as competitive as possible together next year. We can’t wait!”

Razlan Razali

Rossi will partner VR46 Academy rider Franco Morbidelli who has been confirmed with Petronas Yamaha for 2021 and -22.