Valentino Rossi Motogp
Valentino Rossi just signed a two-year contract with the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP squad. This means that the nine-time world champion will race until the end of 2020. In 2020, Rossi would’ve raced for 25 seasons where 15 of those are with Yamaha.
Get unlimited access for free You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. MotoGP rider Valentino Rossi believes his protege Franco Morbidelli will be a “problem” for him in 2019 on a factory-supported satellite Yamaha. Now set for his sophomore MotoGP season with the newly-formed Petronas SRT Yamaha team, Morbidelli will ride an ‘A-class’ M1 similar in spec to factory pair Rossi and Maverick Vinales. Morbidelli, who rode a Marc VDS Honda in his first year in MotoGP, made an immediate impact in post-season testing and ended up sixth fastest on the final day at Jerez. “He was impressive on his Yamaha debut, because he was immediately very strong,” said Rossi of Morbidelli. “So next year he will be a problem.
“Franco likes the Yamaha a lot, because it’s a very generous bike that gives you good feedback. “It’s a bike that is the friend of the rider, but we lack some grip and he also has the same thing.” Morbidelli will not be the only Rossi protege on the MotoGP grid in 2019, with his successor as Moto2 champion Francesco Bagnaia making the step up to the top class this year with Pramac Ducati.
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After taking intermediate class honours this year, Bagnaia – who also shone in Jerez testing – holds the distinction of being the first rider to win a world title for Rossi’s Sky Racing VR46 squad. Rossi was asked to compare the two Italian rising stars and said that while Bagnaia is more naturally talented, Morbidelli is “tougher” and “works more”. “Both are very good riders, as they already have demonstrated,” said Rossi. “Bagnaia is more talented in terms of natural skills, but at the same time Morbidelli is tougher, more difficult to beat.
“Morbidelli works more and is more aggressive. “I don’t know which of them will be faster, but next year they will have similar bikes in terms of performance, so it will be interesting to see them.”.
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Share this article on Valentino Rossi says if Yamaha wants to win again in MotoGP it must match the effort Ducati and Honda are making with their staff levels 'closer to Formula 1'. After a disappointing 2017 season, Yamaha endured an even worse campaign last year and broke its record for its longest-ever premier class win drought, which was finally broken by Maverick Vinales in Australia after 25 races. That was the only race won by a Yamaha rider, with the other 17 shared by Honda and Ducati. Although Rossi and Vinales finished the year third and fourth overall respectively, the works Yamaha team dropped out of the top two in the teams' standings for the first time since 2007, accruing its lowest points tally since the same year. Rossi believes part of the reason Yamaha has fallen behind in the last two seasons is that the manufacturer is not investing the same amount of resources in terms of personnel at races. 'In recent times, especially in the last year-and-a-half, the technical situation in MotoGP has changed a lot,' said Rossi.
'Ducati was the first to make a step with the quantity of people and of engineers. 'It's a bit closer to Formula 1, while still remaining very far away. 'Honda followed and I have spoken about this. 'Now to win in MotoGP, you need to make an effort of this type. We need to see if this happens with Yamaha.' Rossi and team-mate Vinales struck very different tones during last year's final test at Jerez, with the latter declaring his speed proves that Yamaha is now strong enough to fight for the title again.
Valentino Rossi Motogp Bike
That followed on from Rossi saying he felt the latest iteration of the M1 Yamaha brought to Jerez was 'not the improvement we need' and that the bike's drawbacks were 'more or less the same' as its predecessor. Despite suggestions that Yamaha may have to split development in order to produce a package to suit both Rossi's and Vinales' tastes, Rossi insists he's happy for whatever Vinales asks for to form the basis of development. 'If they bring new things for Vinales, I would be happy, because I would get to try them too,' said Rossi. 'The things that we both say are very similar and we find ourselves in agreement almost always regarding the development on the bike.
'If Yamaha wants to bring everything he asks for, for me it's very good, because at least they are bringing something. Because 90 percent of the time we say the same things.'