It seems that Valentino Rossi had a sit-down with Yamaha about the possibility of his VR46 squad entering the premier class. While that might not be surprising considering all the success his team has had in the past few years, stepping up to MotoGP as early as 2022 is.
The nine-time world champion himself revealed that he had the conversation in the recent past with Yamaha Motor Racing’s principal, Lin Jarvis. From a business point of view, Yamaha is most likely on board with the idea, probably the same level of enthusiasm with Dorna and the rest of the paddock.
The thing that’s currently stopping this fast progress is his newly signed contract with the Petronas Yamaha SRT squad. For 2021, Valentino Rossi will compete in the Yamaha satellite team but with all the factory support he needs to pull in some impressive results. If things go well, we won’t be surprised if he continues his racing career well into 2022.
Same Vale, different colours…
The legend continues ? pic.twitter.com/AQ3y7R99HQ
— MotoGP on BT Sport (@btsportmotogp) September 26, 2020
According to Rossi, “It’s a bit early but at the end of 2021, MotoGP changes for 2022 and maybe we can have an occasion to make a VR46 team in MotoGP but it’s really early. It is not easy because the organisation, the size is good for Moto3 and Moto2 but for MotoGP, it is a big step. Sincerely I don’t know.”
“As for the bikes though, Yamaha, why not? We have already spoken to Lin, but before we have to decide whether we do the team or whether we continue in Moto3 and Moto2,” added the founder of the VR46 team and academy.
