Rumors involving Valentino Rossi and Petronas Yamaha SRT started to ignite the paddock even before coming to Barcelona for the Catalan GP but everything happens for a reason. We expected the big announcement of Rossi signing with Petronas for a long time and it seemed that the two parts were close to made it official during this weekend.

Valentino Rossi on Thursday created even more hype as he declared that everything was pretty much done and that he was about to sign the contract during the weekend alongside the official news regarding his future.

After MotoGP FP3 it is finally real: Valentino Rossi will keep racing in 2021 with Petronas Yamaha SRT replacing Fabio Quartararo, who will step up in the Factory Team becoming Maverick Vinales’ teammate for the next season.

“I am happy to continue riding in 2021, Petronas Yamaha Sepang Racing Team is a top squad. I thought a lot before taking this decision, the challenge is getting hotter and hotter. In the first half of the year I made my choice, Yamaha agreed with me. I am very happy to have once again David Munoz as crew chief next year. Having Franco Morbidelli as a teammate will be nice, I think we can work well together”