Yamaha ready
Winless since 2017, can Rossi turn the tide?
Wounded after a tough year, despite race wins, Yamaha field arguably their strongest line up in history with three title contenders and one GOAT
Twenty five years ago the DVD was launched, the Spice Girls had their first number one and a gangly teenager by the name of Valentino Rossi started his journey to cult status in MotoGP. A quarter-of-a-century later and at the grand old age of 42, Rossi’s star may be fading, but nothing dims his passion for racing.
That’s why Rossi has no intention of 2021 being his final fling. He plans to make a decision on his future during the August summer break but remains convinced that the wins and podiums that have proved so elusive of late are not unrealistic targets. “If I’m strong and if I can fight for the podium and I can fight for the victory, I can continue for another year,” Rossi said recently. Recent form doesn’t inject a great deal of confidence that this modern day hero will be resurgent in 2021. It is now 58 races since he last won, at Assen in 2017, and a solitary podium last season was his worst result in 15 seasons on a Yamaha. New Petronas Yamaha SRT teammate Franco Morbidelli topped the podium more times in three months last season than Rossi has managed in the last five.
Hope springs eternal though, and there is good reason to be optimistic that Rossi might be able to produce the kind of results to convince himself – and, more importantly, Petronas Yamaha SRT – that he should grace the grid again in 2022. For the first time since he rode the Nastro Azzurro Honda NSR500 in 2001, Rossi will ride in a non-factory team, albeit with a factory contract and the guarantee of the latest-spec YZR-M1 at his disposal.
But losing his place in the factory squad is a demotion, as Yamaha put loyalty and history aside to invest in future promise and potential with Fabio Quartararo.
To view it as a downgrade though would be doing a gross disservice to Petronas Yamaha SRT. No other team came close to winning as many races as the Malaysianbacked squad did in 2021. Since bursting onto the scene in 2019, Petronas Yamaha
SRT have scored 15 podiums compared to 13 for the official factory team.
They beat Suzuki in the team standings in their debut season and Morbidelli was only 14 points away from winning the title last year.
And 2020 was undoubtedly the year of the independent team. A rider from an independent won eight of the 14 races last season, which set a new record in the modern MotoGP era.
Rossi can be reassured by the fact he has joined a proven outfit and it’s a fact nobody is more aware of than the man himself, who said: “The team has shown that they can get their riders to the top.” Whether we see him back in 2022 now depends on the Doctor delivering on the track this year.
‘If I am strong and can fight then I can continue for another year’