Valentino Rossi doubts he will ride for the VR46 Ducati MotoGP team

On the Thursday before this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix, the VR46 team announced a collaboration with Ducati for the next three seasons, with Rossi’s squad entering the premier class full-time in 2022 after supporting Luca Marini’s Avintia ride this season.

Nine-time Grand Prix motorcycle world champion Rossi has yet to decide about his future in racing as it seems unlikely that he will stay with Petronas SRT and Yamaha after having had his worst season to date in 2021 and only 17 points off scored the first eight races.

Thursday’s VR46 announcement press release contained a quote from the Saudi prince who supports the team – Prince Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Al Saud – who said, “It would be fantastic for me to have Valentino Rossi as a driver in our Aramco Racing for the next several years Team VR46 could compete ”.

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Rossi said Thursday that the prince has been pushing him to ride his own motorcycle for some time, but the Italian doubts that will happen.

“I haven’t made up my mind yet because I’ll think more deeply during this break,” said Rossi of his MotoGP future. “I also have to speak to Yamaha and the team [SRT]. But we want to try to get better performance and better result.

“The start of this season has not been fantastic from this point of view so I think it will be very difficult to race next year as well. Yes, the prince always urges me to ride the Ducati on my team next year, but at the moment I think it will be very difficult. “

He added: “We have talked about the prince sometimes and he always pushed me to go next year. I don’t expect him to say it sincerely in the press release.

“But I know he wants to try that with me and my brother [Luca Marini], but I use the same word for the chance not to race the Ducati, but generally race with my team next year. I think it will be very, very difficult. “

VR46 held talks with Ducati, Yamaha, Suzuki and Aprilia about a satellite partnership in 2022, with the two former brands emerging as lead candidates.

Rossi says VR46’s decision to choose Ducati was based on how the company and the Italian brand can work together to nurture Italian talent in MotoGP.

“We talk to a lot of different brands, yes, but there are a lot of different things behind this type of negotiation,” explained Rossi. “So you have to take into account the price of the bikes, the support and everything.

“In the end it’s Yamaha and Ducati and we chose Ducati, but especially when we talk to each other, we have a very good relationship with” [Ducati sporting director] Paolo Ciabatti, who always works on this project, but also [general manager] Gigi Dall’Igna.

“You will go to great lengths next year with a lot of bikes, the bike is competitive. I think in the end it is because we can share more things with Ducati, especially with growing Italian riders.

“I think that was the main reason in the end.”

Rossi also said “in my heart” that he will remain a Yamaha rider, but he would not comment on whether VR46’s association with Ducati would end his ambassadorial role at Yamaha.