Rossi Officially Wears The Petronas Yamaha SRT Uniform: I'm Impatient

Petronas Yamaha SRT team racer Valentino Rossi in the team launch video as shown on the YouTube channel. (YouTube/Petronas SRT)

JAKARTA - Valentino Rossi officially wore the Petronas Yamaha Sepang Racing Team uniform after the Malaysian team made a team presentation that was broadcasted live on Monday on a number of social media channels.

Before the 2020 season was postponed by the pandemic, Rossi was worried about whether to retire or continue racing after 2021. Until last July he made up his mind to keep racing after seeing a number of appearances at the start of the season.

Then at the end of September, Rossi was officially proposed by Petronas Yamaha SRT, swapping seats with Fabio Quartararo.

The Italian racer will enliven MotoGP for at least one more year starting in 2021 as a tandem for Franco Morbidelli, who is a protégé at the VR46 academy.

"I am very happy. For me, this is a new experience. I can't wait for the (pre-season) test and the championship to start," Rossi said in his new jersey.

"I really like the new livery of this bike, also of my helmet and uniform. I think we are ready.

"To be competitive, to fight to win races and to the podium, also to be well-positioned at the end of the season.

As the most senior rider on the MotoGP grid, Rossi is the only rider in history to have won the 125cc, 250cc, 500cc, and MotoGP classes by taking home nine titles.

Since debuting in the premier class in 2000, Rossi has won seven titles from the most prestigious class, 89 Grand Prix wins, and 199 podium finishes.

After finishing P12 in the final MotoGP series in Portugal last year, Rossi said goodbye to the Yamaha factory team, a team he has been defending for 15 seasons, before turning a new leaf with the Petronas Yamaha satellite team this year.

"I am very proud to be part of the Petronas Yamaha Sepang Racing Team. A new challenge for me. A very young team but in the last two years they have been very competitive," said Rossi.

 

 

 

 

 

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Petronas Yamaha boss Razlan Razali, who is also a big fan of Valentino Rossi, welcomed the arrival of his idol in his team garage.

"He has the distinctive aura of being a living legend that you idolize as a fan," said Razali as quoted by the official MotoGP page.

"The first time I met him, of course via video call, I got goosebumps. Then when I sat with him, as I remember in Misano ... I couldn't help but be amazed by seeing him. But when you guys started chatting with him, he was like an ordinary person, good people".

"The challenge we face is that we want to make him competitive again, we want him to continue there."

"We hope that with the new environment we have, he can relax more."

"He has worked with Frankie whom he has known for a long time. The atmosphere is very good in the garage," said Razlan.

After winning the team's runner-up title in its second year in MotoGP, as well as the runner-up of the riders' standings through the appearance of Franco Morbidelli, Petronas Yamaha SRT is ready to challenge for the world title again this year when MotoGP starts at the Losail Circuit, Qatar on March 28, 2021.

The Losail Circuit will also hold pre-season tests on March 5-6 and March 10-12.