Yamaha have officially confirmed Valentino Rossi will be riding for Petronas Yamaha SRT in the 2021 MotoGP season.
The Doctor will be replaced at the works Yamaha team by Fabio Quartararo, meaning the pair effectively swapping places at the end of the current campaign.
“The Yamaha Factory Racing MotoGP team would like to thank Rossi for his contribution and his continuous efforts,” Yamaha said in a statement.
In May 2019, Rossi admiited Petronas SRT bikes very similar to works Yamaha M1. And now the Italian rider has no doubt to join the team next year.
“I am very happy to continue racing in 2021 and to do so with the Petronas Yamaha SRT. I thought a lot before taking this decision, because the challenge is getting hotter and hotter.” Rossi said.
“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.” Rossi added.
Petronas Yamaha SRT boss Razlan Razali on the other hand, revealed his delight at signing Rossi to a team who only made their MotoGP debut in Qatar last season.
“On behalf of the Petronas Yamaha SRT and all its partners, it is an absolute honor to welcome Valentino Rossi to the team next year,” Razali said.
“He is an iconic rider and legend whose experience will be a great asset to the team as we enter our third season in MotoGP. We are sure we can learn a lot from Valentino. At the same time, we will do our best to help him to be competitive in order to reward him for the trust he places in us.”
“We are honoured by this opportunity and ready to take up the challenge. We believe that the alliance of Valentino and Franco will give us a formidable strength to be too competitive as possible next year.” Razali added.
