Coronavirus forces Rossi out
Nine-time world champion Valentino Rossi has been forced out of at least two Motogp rounds with Yamaha after becoming the first rider to test positive for COVID-19.
Rossi felt unwell at his home in Italy last Thursday morning and underwent a quick PCR test, which came back negative, but a second test returned positive. It forced him out of last weekend’s Aragon Grand Prix and the follow-up Teruel GP, which will also take place at the Motorland track. He will not be back until the European GP at Valencia on 8 November at the earliest.
Ahead of the previous weekend’s French
GP at Le Mans, six members of Yamaha’s technical staff were forced to self-isolate in Andorra after one of them caught the virus.
“I am sad and angry because I did my best to respect the protocol, and although the test I had [last] Tuesday [before he felt unwell] was negative, I self-isolated since my arrival from Le Mans. Anyway, this is the way it is and I can’t do anything to change the situation.”
Yamaha has since confirmed that it will not replace Rossi for the second
Aragon race. Motogp’s rules stipulate: “Teams must make every reasonable effort to provide a qualified substitute rider to fulfil their entry obligations within 10 days of withdrawal.”
Given 10 days won’t have passed, this does not apply. Yamaha’s decision was also motivated by a desire not to put additional strain on its reduced team, as per Motogp’s COVID paddock protocols this year.
This dashed hopes of three-time champion Jorge Lorenzo making a comeback. But given the Yamaha test rider has only done four days on the YZR-M1 since February – and only on the 2019 bike – and was four seconds off the pace in the Algarve test ahead of Le Mans, he may not have been the “suitable” stand-in the regulations require.