MotoGP Starts This Week, Valentino Rossi: It's Like The First Day Of School

JAKARTA - Valentino Rossi could not hide his joy when the MotoGP World Championship rolled back, starting with the opening series in Qatar this weekend.

Although this is the 26th year for the veteran Italian racer to compete in the Grand Prix event, Rossi is smiling broadly like a schoolboy welcoming the new school year.

"It's like the first day of school, it's always fun", said the nine-time world champion at the Qatar Grand Prix press conference.

This year Rossi wore a new uniform, after leaving the factory Yamaha team and continuing his career for at least another year with the Petronas Yamaha SRT team, for the first time since 2001 he was defending a satellite team.

"I changed teams after a long time but I felt the atmosphere was good and the test results weren't too bad".

"Now we see the real race this weekend", said Rossi, who wants to race for two more years even though he is already in his 40s.

Meanwhile, Joan Mir is still the favorite to defend the world title.

The Spaniard became the most consistent rider last year, amid the absence of Marc Marquez, who was injured throughout the season until he won his first MotoGP title in his second year in the premier class with Suzuki.

"It's great to be here again. Last year was a very good season, realizing the dream of becoming world champion", said Mir.

"But, we are here in Qatar, starting from zero again and everything. The test results are not too bad but we still have to improve.

We are looking forward to this season, with different challenges and trying to defend the title", said Mir.

Fabio Quartararo will be one of the serious contenders for the title race this year after the French racer was recruited by the factory Yamaha team.

Quartararo had to give up last year's championship title following his bike's inconsistent performance despite winning three Grand Prix in a season that was hampered by the pandemic.

"Last year at the end of the season was difficult, but I learned a lot of things that can give me a lot of experience for the future.

I'm ready for 2021 and that's the most important thing", said Quartararo.

After hosting the pre-season tests for five days this month, Qatar is set to host the opening two series on March 28 and April 4.