In 2021, the Petronas team welcomes a Valentino Rossi who was highly recommended by Yamaha. A recommendation which was accepted half-heartedly by the boss of the team Razlan Razali who thus realizes the special relationship forged with the Iwata manufacturer, at the time when it will be necessary to talk about the renewal of the contract. With Rossi thinking about the continuation of his epic in motorsport, should the Malaysian look at the Italian like a wolf in his sheepfold?
Everything has been more or less said about the circumstances which led to Valentino Rossi to settle in for the 2021 season of MotoGP in a box in the colors of Petronas. A presence imposed by Yamaha but Razlan Razali prefers to see the good side of the deal: increased notoriety and the assurance of a good atmosphere in the stands: “ the atmosphere will be very pleasant. I talked to Frankie and he definitely wants to beat Valentino. We hope he can challenge for the title in 2021 ».
We will recall that Morbidely is a pure product of the VR46 academy and he finished the last season with a bang, where he emerged vice-world champion. So much for the sporting side. But with Valentino Rossi, there is always a political side to the coin. By this, mean that at a time in history when partnerships must be renewed between satellite teams and manufacturers, the presence of a Doctor at the end of his career in the landscape can influence the course of events...
Razlan Razali is well aware of the situation but nevertheless remains calm: “ I'm not afraid that he will create a team in MotoGP, it's more complicated and more expensive than doing it in Moto2 and Moto3. We are confident in continuing with Yamaha, I’m not afraid he’ll “steal” them from us.”. A strong conclusion distilled on GP One which shows that Malaysian is not fooled by the environment in which he operates.
Rossi and Razali are also on the Suzuki file
The Malaysian manager confirmed his intention to continue the technical partnership with the Iwata manufacturer, but the contract expires at the end of 2021 and another solution cannot be ruled out: “ we want to stay in MotoGP beyond 2021 » he explains « and we want to continue our relationship with Yamaha. We have also started talking with other manufacturers, but we aim to finalize the agreement with Yamaha for the next five years ».
Petronas gives priority to Yamaha for the future, but there is also the path Suzuki which explores the possibility of forming a satellite team. Currently, the Hamamatsu house does not have a customer team in MotoGP and hopes to have one in 2022. But even there, we cannot exclude a possible agreement with the VR46 of Valentino Rossi...
