Valentino Rossi admits he will “probably” continue to race in the MotoGP World Championship for two more seasons, amid rumours of a VR46 team in the class in the wake of Tech3's split with Yamaha.
Tech3 made the shock announcement it was to end its two-decade association with Yamaha at the end of the 2018 season, after being offered a deal that team boss Herve Poncehral “couldn't say no to.”
Poncheral confirmed during last year's Valencia test that Yamaha had informed him it would be giving its support to Rossi's team when the time comes.
This has led to speculation over the last week the VR46 outfit – which currently competes in the Moto2 and Moto3 classes – could be entering MotoGP in 2019.
However, Rossi has confirmed his team will not be on the grid for at least the next two years as he looks set to continue racing into 2020.
“I didn't expect Poncheral to leave Yamaha,” Rossi said after the opening day of the Qatar test, in which he was seventh fastest.
“We thought about it, and it would have been a great opportunity. But in the next two years we will not make a MotoGP team with Yamaha.
“I'll probably race for the next two years, so hopefully we'll talk about the team later when I stop, but not in 2019 or 2020.”
Tech3 is expected to join forced with KTM for 2019, while the Nieto and Avintia teams have emerged as potential candidates to receive support from Yamaha for next season.
Elsewhere on the grid, Rossi protege Francesco Bagnaia – who currently rides for the Italian's outfit in Moto2 – will step up to the premier class next season after agreeing a two-year deal with Ducati to join Pramac.
Bagnaia becomes the second VR46 Academy rider to graduate to MotoGP, with reigning Moto2 world champion Franco Morbidelli making his debut with Marc VDS in 2018.
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