Barcelona (AFP)
Valentino Rossi, the Italian MotoGP legend, will drive in 2021 for the Yamaha-SRT team, thus extending by at least one year his career already rich with seven world championship titles in the premier class, announced this team on Saturday.
Rossi, 41, will move from the Yamaha factory team to the Sepang Racing Team (SRT) satellite team, swapping with Frenchman Fabio Quartararo, 21, who will leave SRT to join the factory team.
"It is a huge honor to welcome Valentino Rossi, an iconic and legendary rider, to our team next year. His experience will be a huge asset for our team as they begin their 3rd season in MotoGP and we will certainly learn a lot of him, "said Razlan Razali, the Malaysian team principal.
SRT only arrived in MotoGP in 2019 but immediately imposed itself at the top with Fabio Quartararo, himself a beginner, who obtained several podiums and pole positions.
The French driver is currently 2nd in the provisional world championship classification.
Rossi will have as teammate next year at SRT his compatriot Franco Morbidelli, 25, who himself won his first MotoGP race a fortnight ago at the San Marino GP.
If the announcement of Rossi's signing for the Japanese manufacturer's satellite team was expected, it nevertheless confirms that the Italian driver does not want to commit for more than a year when he is already, by far, the dean of the plateau.
He hasn't won a Grand Prix for three years and often struggles to qualify in the top ten.
- Difficult negotiations -
Rossi himself estimated two weeks ago at 99% his chances of still being on the MotoGP starting grid next year with Yamaha-SRT.
But he had to organize this transfer by trying to keep his engineers and mechanics, the negotiations between the Yamaha factory, SRT and the Italian rider proving difficult on this point.
He will not have completely achieved his ends.
"The Doctor", also known as "Vale", will have to part ways with two of his closest technicians, Alex Briggs, who has followed him since almost the start of his MotoGP career, and Brent Stephens who had been with him since 2004.
The two men had so far followed him everywhere, including during his interlude at Ducati, but will not go with him to Yamaha-SRT.
The only driver still in activity to have raced with the phenomenal 500cc two-stroke that preceded the current 1000cc, Rossi started his career in the premier class in 2000 after winning two titles, one in 125cc (1997) and the other in 250cc (1999).
In 2001, he was crowned in 500cc and this first title will be followed by six others in MotoGP (2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008 and 2009) with a total of 89 victories and 199 podiums in the premier class.
- The most popular -
If it was with Honda that he won his first three world titles, he joined Yamaha in 2004 to win the other four.
He performed an "infidelity" at Ducati (2011 and 2012) but this "Italian marriage" was not a success and he won no victory with the Bologna brand.
Rossi then returned to Yamaha where he would continue for one more year for the Japanese manufacturer's satellite team.
He remains MotoGP's most popular rider even though he no longer has the speed to fight regularly for a podium, his last dating back to last year.
He had to make room over the past ten years for Spaniard Marc Marquez, now 27, who won six MotoGP World Championship titles between 2013 and 2019.
A fortnight ago, on "his" Misano circuit, very close to his "ranch" in Tavullia, he showed that he still knew how to fight for the lead by only being stolen from 3rd place on the last lap. of the race.
Rossi is also at the head of the "VR Academy" which has around ten Italian riders racing in MotoGP and in the lower Moto2 and Moto3 categories.
Franco Morbidelli, his teammate next year, is one of them and will thus be able to learn even more from the master.
© 2020 AFP