Rossi to leave Yamaha factory team

Valentino Rossi will leave the Yamaha Factory Racing MotoGP team at the conclusion of the 2020 season, with Yamaha announcing it will provide the Italian racing great with a factory-spec YZR-M1 bike and factory engineering support should he decided to contest the 2021 MotoGP season with a satellite team.

The 40-year-old racer and nine-time World Champion has said he needs more time aboard the bike before he decides on his direction for 2021 and beyond, when he'll either continue with a satellite Yamaha team or leave the premiere class entirely. Rossi says he'll reach that decision by mid-2020, after he's had a chance to fully evaluate his competitiveness.

Yamaha has said it will continue to support Rossi throughout the 2020 MotoGP season.

"Irrespective of the decisions for the future, Yamaha will provide full support and total focus for the 2020 season as Rossi commences his 25th motorcycle Grand Prix racing World Championship, his 21st season in the premier class, and his 15th year with Yamaha," the company said.

Rossi said he needed to fully evaluate his pace over the coming months before he could decide on what shape his career might take in 2021 and beyond.

"For reasons dictated by the riders' market, Yamaha asked me at the beginning of the year to make a decision regarding my future," he said.

"Consistent with what I said during the last season, I confirmed that I didn't want to rush any decision and needed more time. Yamaha has acted accordingly and concluded the ongoing negotiations. It is clear that after the last technical changes and with the arrival of my new crew chief, my first goal is to be competitive this year and to continue my career as a MotoGP rider also in 2021.

"Before doing so, I need to have some answers that only the track and the first few races can give me. I'm happy that, should I decide to continue, Yamaha is ready to support me in all respects, giving me a factory-spec bike and a factory contract. In the first tests I will do my best to do a good job together with my team and be ready for the start of the season."

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According to Lin Jarvis, the managing director of Yamaha Motor Racing, Rossi will have Yamaha's backing both on or off the track, whichever way he decides to take his racing career.

"The totally understandable decision of Valentino to assess his competitiveness in 2020 before making any decision about 2021 was something that Yamaha respects and also wholeheartedly agrees to," said Jarvis.

"While we have total respect for and confidence in Valentino's abilities and speed for the 2020 championship, at the same time Yamaha also has to plan for the future. These days, with six motorcycle manufacturers in the MotoGP class, fast young talents are greatly in demand, and consequently the riders' market begins ever earlier.

"So, it's a weird sensation to start a season knowing that Vale will not be in the Factory Team in 2021, but Yamaha will still be there for Valentino, whatever he may decide for the future.

"If he feels confident and continues to race, we will provide a Factory-spec YZR-M1 bike and full engineering support. If he decides to retire, we will continue and expand our collaborations off track with the young riders' training programs of the Riders Academy and the Yamaha VR46 Master Camp, and with him as a Yamaha brand ambassador.

"Anyway, that is all speculation – right now we have a full season ahead of us and I can assure the fans that Valentino will have our 100 per cent support every day until he eventually one day decides to hang up his leathers!"

Taking Rossi's place in 2021 at the Yamaha Factory Racing MotoGP Team will be Fabio Quartararo, who currently rides for the Petronas Yamaha Sepang satellite team.

Quartararo has been signed to the factory Yamaha squad for 2021 and 2022, when he will ride alongside current Yamaha factory ace Maverick Vinales. Vinales' contract with the team was recently renewed for both those years.