Valentino Rossi has finally been confirmed at the Petronas SRT team on a one year deal for 2021, joining Franco Morbidelli at the official satellite Yamaha outfit.
The seven-time premier class champion has been heavily linked with the Malaysian team ever since being dropped from Yamaha’s factory squad earlier this year after eight consecutive campaigns together, ’19 rookie standout and current Petronas SRT man Fabio Quartararo his replacement.
Team principle Razlan Rizali has been open regarding his outfit’s interest in signing the veteran Italian ever since Rossi’s Yamaha exit was announced back in January, but lengthy contract negotiations has meant it has taken until now to finally get a deal over the line.
Rossi meanwhile has continually teased that an announcement was imminent on multiple occasions across the past weeks, saying first that a deal was “99% done” back in July, before adding that his deal would be fully completed at the Catalan Grand Prix prior to his second home event at the the Emilia Romagna GP.
Rossi will wade into battle with an up-to-date spec M1 bike with full-factory support much like Quartararo will enjoy this year, with Petronas SRT Team Principle Razlan Razali saying he “can’t wait” to welcome him to the Malaysian outfit’s fold.
“On behalf of PETRONAS Yamaha Sepang Racing Team and all its partners, it is an absolute honour to welcome Valentino Rossi – an iconic rider and legend into the team next year,” said Razali.
“His 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 Valentino.
“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!”
Rossi re-joined the Yamaha family ahead of the ’13 campaign after two torrid years with the official Ducati squad, in which he managed just three podium finishes with a best championship result of sixth.
Rossi’s second stint with Yamaha has so far failed to reach the peaky heights of his first tenure with the Japanese manufacturer-in which he secured four MotoGP titles- though, having managed just nine wins across seven seasons, although he narrowly missed out on an eighth title to team-mate Jorge Lorenzo in ’15.
He has failed to win a MotoGP race since his Dutch TT success back in ’17, and has struggled to match team-mate Maverick Vinales in recent season.
His troubles were compounded last year after losing out to Yamaha successor Quartararo in the points standings, the Frenchman out-scoring Rossi by 18 despite contesting his first MotoGP season on a year-old M1 machine-leading to his direct replacement.
The 89-time premier class victor is thought to have first dibs on a satellite contract for whenever he decides to bring his VR46 junior team into MotoGP in the future, although the potential status of the SIC outfit with its own programme should this come to fruition is unknown.
