Since the start of the 2021 MotoGP season, seven-time champion Valentino Rossi has been adamant that any decision on his future in the series would come during July’s summer break – a deadline that is quickly bearing down on us with a short but intense block of races scheduled in the coming days and weeks at Le Mans, Mugello, Barcelona, Sachsenring and Assen.
So far this year, it’s not been the sort of season that you would think might sway the 42-year-old to risk enduring another year of poor results. Four races into the year, he has scored a mere four points in the opening race of the year in Qatar, crashing out of one of the others and disappointingly finishing the other two outside the top 15.
Rather than the reinvigorated career we hoped for when Rossi made the switch from factory Monster Energy Yamaha team to the satellite Petronas Yamaha squad, it’s been nothing short of a complete disaster, and he currently lies a worrying 21st in the championship battle.
We know that Rossi loves racing, and we know that the reason he’s still lining up every Sunday on the grid is because of that love – but you’ve got to question how much enjoyment the veteran Italian is taking out of finishing outside the points every weekend. Which begs the question: does he need a rapid turnaround in form if he’s going to find a way to remain on the grid next year?
The problem is, while Rossi might first and foremost be a motorcycle racer, there’s no shortage of alternative options for him to succeed elsewhere, with his past forays into four-wheeled motorsport showing what his post-MotoGP future probably holds for him. He’s a podium finisher at high-level endurance events, he’s successfully tested for Ferrari in F1, and he’s dominated the Monza Rally – all signs that he can still be fast after MotoGP.
So, while we don’t know what Rossi’s thinking is right now, we do know one thing: the crunch time is coming soon, and we might need to see stronger results sooner rather than later from him if he’s definitely going to be on the grid next year.
Which makes the coming few races very important indeed – and means that today’s French Grand Prix could be one of the most significant races of the past few years if you’re a Valentino Rossi fan.
We knew coming into 2021, based on past form, that he was never going to be a title challenger, but that his future hopes were more pinned on being able to surprise us all with the occasional podium finish.
And there’s an absolutely fine possibility of that happening at a rainy Le Mans. Rossi is an undisputed master of riding in the rain, with his feeling from a machine always one of his strengths – and something that hasn’t diminished as he’s aged, even though his speed might have.
Add to that the fact that he’s always been strong at the French circuit and that his fellow Yamaha riders seem to be struggling in wet conditions, and there’s a solid chance – the best of the year by far – of him pulling off a surprise result.
It doesn’t even need to be a win, either, if it’s to plant the seed in his brain that it’s time to stay, especially with his beloved Mugello the next round on the calendar. It won’t be as easy there to be as competitive, based on his previous form in the dry this year, but it does bring one other factor to play….
If there’s one thing that we know Rossi is, it’s a natural showman. He hasn’t built a global fanbase of millions through just being a fast motorbike racer, but through his antics on and off the bike, his elaborate victory celebrations and his often controversial statements.
And a showman needs a stage. Riding at Mugello, of all the races on the calendar with it’s incredible natural amphitheatre, but with no fans in attendance (something confirmed this week by the Italian track) might well do as much to persuade him to stay as a win at Le Mans.
He wants to take a final bow in front of thousands of people chanting his name, and that’s very unlikely in 2021 – at least at home in Italy.
When asked by The Race earlier this weekend whether no fans at Mugello in 2021 meant he was more inclined to extend his MotoGP career, Rossi said: “I think that Mugello is the place where having no fans is the bigger problem, because the track is a natural stadium. Maybe Jerez is like this, or Assen, but in Mugello you have the people, you see the people when you ride, it’s one of the only tracks.
“So it’s a great shame to not have any fans also this year – but, yeah, no, it will depend very much from the results, if I continue in 2022.”
But if the results do indeed pick up, perhaps starting from this Sunday, then the prospect of a riding in front of a Mugello crowd again is likely to be a significant sweetener.
So again, while it’s very hard for us to know exactly what Rossi is thinking – or even where he might end up, given recent rumours about his team’s plans – there’s a good chance the next two weeks could well determine the seven-time MotoGP champion’s future.
