JAKARTA - Nine-time world champion Valentino Rossi is undergoing a farewell from the Monster Energy Yamaha team after completing the season's final race in Portugal on Sunday, November 22.
After finishing P12 at the Algarve Circuit on his MotoGP debut this year, Rossi was greeted by the Monster Energy Yamaha team members in the garage before the Italian rider resumed his career with the Petronas Yamaha satellite team next year, swapping seats with Fabio Quartararo.
"It's very emotional because this is 15 years together. A very important period in my career and life with many unforgettable things and also memories, friends and friendship," Rossi said as quoted by Antara from the official MotoGP page, Monday.
"This is a good story," said the racer who presented four world titles for Yamaha in 2004, 2005, 2008 and 2009.
Before the 2020 season was postponed by the pandemic, Rossi was worried about whether to retire or continue racing after 2021 until in July he decided to continue racing.
Then at the end of September, Rossi was officially proposed by the Petronas Yamaha team to enliven MotoGP for at least one more year starting in 2021 as a partner for Franco Morbidelli who was his protégé at the VR46 academy.
Yamaha Motor Racing Managing Director Lin Jarvis promised to give full support to The Doctor and even stated that the 41-year-old Italian racer is still very competitive.
"2020 is Valentino's 15th season with the Yamaha Factory Racing MotoGP Team. I have vivid memories of those years," said Jarvis.
"There are ups and downs, it's like riding a rollercoaster, but his list of accomplishments with Yamaha is impressive: four MotoGP World Championship titles, 255 Grand Prix races, 56 wins, 142 podiums. What he accomplished during his time with us was extraordinary.
"In the case of Valentino we are now facing what I can say 'a change of guards'. Even though he left the factory Yamaha team, it was not the end of his career. This is not a real breakup scenario, it is a transitional moment," said Jarvis.
Rossi will bring a number of crews who helped him to their new garage next year.
Thank you for 15 unforgettable years, @ ValeYellow46! 💛 # MonsterYamaha | #MotoGP | # VR46 pic.twitter.com/e7JjdCfFV4
- Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP (@YamahaMotoGP) November 22, 2020
Crew chief David Munoz and data engineer Matteo Flamigni and performance analyst Idalio Manuel Davira will join Petronas but mechanics Brent Stephens and Alex Briggs, who have been with Rossi for a long time, will not participate due to limited space.
Rossi ended the 2020 season in 15th place in the standings with 66 points after suffering a number of technical problems with his bike and missing the race twice due to COVID-19.
"In the end it's a pretty complicated season for everyone and also for me because we had some good performances, also sometimes not being able to finish the race because of bad luck or I made mistakes," said Rossi.
Unforgettable years together ❤️ @ ValeYellow46 says an emotional goodbye to his Factory Yamaha crew 😢 # PortugueseGP 🇵🇹 | 📽️https: //t.co/L3FhCRnXJ9
- MotoGP ™ 🏁 (@MotoGP) November 22, 2020
The 2020 calendar also forces riders to take several days off over a period of three weeks to undergo consecutive races.
"It's not easy, so we need to rest and prepare for next year.
"I think next year will not be a normal season, unfortunately, but I hope it is much better than this year and we are racing on the European track at the right time," said Rossi.
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