Valentino Rossi, the Italian MotoGP legend, will drive in 2021 for the Yamaha-SRT team, thus extending by at least one year his career already rich with seven world championship titles in the premier class, announced this team on Saturday.
Rossi, 41, will move from the Yamaha factory team to the Sepang Racing Team (SRT) satellite team.
He will thus switch with the French Fabio Quartararo, 21, who will leave SRT to join the factory team.
“It is a huge honor to welcome Valentino Rossi, an iconic and legendary driver, to our team next year.
His experience will be a huge asset for our team as they begin their 3rd season in MotoGP and we will certainly learn a lot from him, ”said Razlan Razali, the Malaysian team principal.
Crossover with Fabio Quartararo
SRT only arrived in MotoGP in 2019 but immediately imposed itself at the top with Fabio Quartararo, himself a beginner, who obtained several podiums and pole positions.
The French driver is currently 2nd in the provisional world championship classification.
Rossi will have as teammate next year in SRT his compatriot Franco Morbidelli, 25, who himself won his first MotoGP race a fortnight ago at the San Marino GP.
If the announcement of Rossi's signing for the Japanese manufacturer's satellite team was expected, it nevertheless confirms that the Italian driver does not want to commit for more than a year when he is already, by far, the dean of the plateau and that he has not won a Grand Prix for three years.
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