VOLUME 58 ISSUE 32 AUGUST 10, 2021 P81
V
alentino Rossi officially an-
nounced he will retire from
grand prix racing at the close
of the 2021 season after an illustri-
ous 26-year career racing in the FIM
MotoGP World Championship.
In an "exceptional press confer-
ence" called on the eve of the Styr-
ian Grand Prix in Austria, the Italian
confirmed he's hanging up his racing
leathers despite having the offer to
ride in his own VR46 team in 2022,
aboard Ducati machinery.
Now 42 years old, Rossi has been
undergoing his worst season to date
after switching from Yamaha's facto-
ry team to the Petronas SRT Yamaha
squad. He sits 19th in the World
Championship after nine races, with
a best result of a single 10th place.
His intention at the beginning of
2021 was to continue racing motor-
cycles next year, he explained. But
recent struggles were enough
to convince him it was time to
stop. "I wanted to continue
when I start the champion-
ship," he said. "But I needed to
understand if I was fast enough. Dur-
ing the season our results were less
than what I expect. Race by race I
started to think."
From here, Rossi will switch
disciplines and series. The nine-
time world champion had always
harbored ambitions to race on four
wheels (and came close to joining
Ferrari in Formula 1 at the close of
2005). In 2022, he will take on the
challenge of racing cars full time.
"I love to race with the cars, just
a little less than the motorcycle," he
said. "I would like to race the cars. I
feel that I am a rider or driver all life-
long. Just [I will] change motorcycles
for cars, not at the same level, but I
think I will race anyway."
Rossi has fielded questions re-
garding his future all year long. But
he insisted he was more comfortable
with the idea of retiring now than any
time in the past. "Sincerely two years
ago and last year I was not ready to
stop with MotoGP. But now I'm okay.
HE'S CALLING IT
A CAREER
ROSSI SAYS
BY NEIL MORRISON
PHOTOGRAPHY BY GOLD & GOOSE
