Valentino Rossi signs for two more years with Yamaha MotoGP

Anxious to continue the momentum he’s built this year, Valentino Rossi and Yamaha officially announced that “The Doctor” has signed a two-year extension to his current contract with the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP team that will hopefully see the nine-time World Champion’s racing career span 20 years when he races in 2016.

After a difficult 2013 that saw Rossi struggle to get reacquainted with the YZR-M1, the Italian made a controversial move to try and reignite his competitive spark at the end of the season by replacing his long-time crew chief Jeremy Burgess with former WSBK Yamaha crew chief Silvano Galbusera. The move seems to have worked, with Rossi currently in second in the MotoGP World Championship standings, having taken four second place and one third place finish out of eight races so far in 2014, which is already almost equal to his total finishes in 2013. Although it wasn't likely that Rossi would sign with any other team, his contract renewal will likely affect the negotiations still going with his current teammate Jorge Lorenzo. Lorenzo is apparently still going back and forth with Yamaha over a contract renewal, with sources saying that the stumbling block is—what else—money.

“I am very happy that we have concluded the agreement with Valentino for 2015 and 2016,” said Lin Jarvis, Managing Director of Yamaha Motor Racing. “After two difficult years ‘away from home’ Valentino returned last year, not only to us but also to his beloved YZR-M1. Fans of racing across the world were happy to see him rediscover his competitive performance and witness him take pleasure in riding and having fun again on two wheels. The ‘fun factor’ is crucial to Valentino to get results – in fact when he first joined us in 2004 one of the most important motivations for his move to Yamaha was his desire to create an environment where he could enjoy racing. His enjoyment is obvious to all who meet him at the MotoGP events or who see him race on TV and is reflected in his excellent race results this year where he is currently in second position in the World Championship. We look forward to the next two and a half years together and it is our intention that Valentino will remain with Yamaha until the end of his sporting career and beyond.”

“I am very happy to announce that I have signed a new contract with Yamaha to continue together in MotoGP for the next two years,” Rossi stated in the team press release. “I am very proud of this announcement. It’s very important to me because I really enjoy working with my crew and all the guys from the team, both the Japanese and European members that have been with me almost my entire career. It’s great because this was my target; I wanted to continue, I am feeling good and I’m motivated to keep giving my best. I am very happy that I can keep riding my YZR-M1, that has been my love for so many years and will still be my love this year and the following two seasons. A big 'Thank You' to everybody, I will try to keep giving the maximum to arrive in front and make good races. Enjoy!”

Below is Rossi's video announcement of the contract signing: