Valentino Rossi says he is “99% certain” of his MotoGP future with satellite squad Petronas Yamaha, admitting that there are only fine details left to be ironed out in the contract but that the process is almost complete.
Speaking after a day of testing at Jerez ahead of the opening two rounds of the delayed MotoGP season there this weekend, he admitted that he has made up his mind about continuing to race on in 2021.
When asked by The Race, Rossi said: “The news that I’ve already signed isn’t true, but we’re very close.
“I Want to continue in 2021, and I’ve already spoken to Yamaha and especially to Razlan [Razali, Petronas Yamaha boss], to [Wilco] Zeelenberg and to Stiggy [Johan Stigefelt, Petronas Yamaha team manager] about Petronas, and I have a very good feeling about it.
“We have some details to fix, about the team, the people who will work for me. But it’s 99% certain that I will race with them even if I haven’t signed it yet.”
Rossi’s comments appear to support rumours that the final niggling point seems to be who exactly will join Rossi’s side of the garage, with Petronas adamant that it will keep its successful squad together and with room only for Rossi to bring his crew chief and rider coach to the squad.
Rossi had a steady start back to proceedings in the two sessions at Jerez, finishing the morning’s in third and the second session in 16th.
Aware that there’s work to be done, he’s nonetheless going into the race weekend content.
“It’s been a long time without riding MotoGP and it was fantastic to come back on track with the M1,” he added.
“In the morning I wasn’t so bad, and I used the one soft tyre for a time attack in the morning.
“It leaves me fifth overall, and in the afternoon we tried some things but struggled a little with the higher temperatures.
“I’m not happy yet with the balance of the bike and we’ve got a lot of work to do, but it was great to come back on track.”
Rossi signing for Petronas Yamaha would complete a ride-swap with Fabio Quartararo. The latter has already been confirmed as Rossi’s replacement at the factory Yamaha team for the 2021 MotoGP season.
