Valentino Rossi: The prince pushes me to race in 2022

Valentino Rossi has significant doubts on whether he will be able to race for his own VR46 team in MotoGP™ next season.

The brand-new team was recently announced ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix, and it was confirmed the outfit will be running two Ducati bikes for the next three years.

After a very difficult season with Petronas Yamaha SRT, Rossi’s future is still very much in the air with retirement looming as a very likely option for the Italian.

Prince Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Al Saud, who is a major backer of Rossi’s new team, said he would like to see the Italian ride for Aramco Racing Team VR46.

Rossi commented on the situation in a recent press conference; “I’ve still not decided because I will think more deeply during this break. I also have to speak with Yamaha and the team. But we want to try for a better performance and a better result for sure.

“The start of this season until now under this point of view was not fantastic, so I think it will be very difficult that I will race also next year. Yes, always the Prince pushes me to race in my team next year with the Ducati, but at the moment I think it will be very difficult."

It will be fascinating to see what direction Rossi decides on for 2022.

“We are all very happy and very proud” 🎙️ - @ValeYellow46

A lasting legacy that's now confirmed to be a full two-rider team in #MotoGP next year 🙌#DutchGP 🇳🇱 pic.twitter.com/fBUDdLTbQZ

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) June 24, 2021