Valentino Rossi ended his sensational MotoGP career last month with the 432nd and final Grand Prix in Valencia, putting an end to 26 years of history that have earned him nine World titles and 115 victories.
The Italian had decided to wait at least the first part of 2020 before deciding whether to continue racing in 2021, but his choice was forced by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced Dorna to completely review the calendar of the last one. season.
Expelled from the official Yamaha team to make room for Fabio Quartararo in 2021, Rossi then joined the Petronas SRT satellite team, in which, however, a factory version M1 was made available to him.
Unfortunately, the results were disappointing, however, because the best seasonal result of the “Doctor” was an eighth place in an Austrian Grand Prix characterized by the arrival of rain, and at the end of the championship he found himself 18th with just 44 points assets.
Despite this, Jarvis believes Yamaha did well to allow Valentino Rossi to continue racing in 2021 even in hindsight.
“26 years in the paddock, 16 years with Yamaha in two different moments”, Jarvis began. “Obviously Valentino wanted to start with the energy and the desire to try again, because last season, that of COVID, was strange: we started in July, doing only 14 races and without spectators”.
“There were a lot of things at stake and Valentino really wanted to try and do a full season and see if he could still be competitive.”
“But it was clear from the start of the season that the level had risen again and that all the youngsters were getting faster and faster. Fabio was incredibly fast, Maverick won the first race, so it wasn’t easy for him from the start. ‘beginning of the year “.
“I am sure he will be the first to admit that the season has been disappointing for him in terms of points and results. But I still think that, if we were faced with the same decision, even with hindsight, we would make the same choice, because I think Valentino needed to do this extra year to finish in style. “
Valentino Rossi, Petronas Yamaha SRT
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
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