Seven-time MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi insisted
Wednesday that he has no intentions of merely bidding his legions of fans
“ciao” when he steps away from the Yamaha factory team.
Rossi, 41, already knows he has lost his seat at the elite
outfit for next season with 20-year-old Frenchman Fabio Quartararo taking his
ride.
However, the Italian legend has a seat waiting for him at
satellite team Yamaha-SRT.
“I want to continue but only if I am strong,”
Rossi said in an interview on the sport’s official motogp.com website.
“My plan was very clear. Change some things in the
team and wait until the summer to see if I could be more competitive than last
year,” added Rossi, who finished a lowly seventh in the 2019 world
championship.
However, the 2020 championship has yet to get off the
ground due to the coronavirus which has left Rossi caught in no-man’s land.
“Sadly, with this situation, I must decide without
being able to race.
“It’s suddenly more difficult, I have to think more
to see if I still have as much strength and motivation.”
He added: “I have a good opportunity with the
Yamaha-SRT Petronas team which is at the top level as they showed last year
with Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli.”
The problem for Rossi is that he has not won a MotoGP race
since 2018.
“Now I have to decide for myself if I have enough
motivation to continue,” he added.
“I don’t want to go to Petronas just to do one last
season and say ‘ciao’. If I race, I will give 100% and, if I can be
competitive, fight for the podium.
“I have two options – either Petronas or stop, so
let’s see.”