Can leaving a factory team end Rossi’s MotoGP victory drought?

The world seems to get itself into an increasingly unpredictable state of flux with each passing year, but one thing that pleasingly stays the same is Valentino Rossi’s continuing MotoGP career.

The 2021 season will be Rossi’s 26th in grand prix racing, a journey that started back in 1996 in the 125cc class and has wound its way through nine world titles in total – seven of which in the premier class – 115 victories (89 of those in MotoGP) and a quite incredible 414 GP starts. To contextualise that last point, Rossi’s grand prix career is just 20 weeks older than this writer’s entire existence.

But, as Rossi’s career extends, so does his winless streak. The 42-year-old hasn’t stood atop a grand prix podium since the 2017 Dutch TT. By lights out in next weekend’s season-opening Qatar Grand Prix, 61 races will have passed since Rossi’s last victory. And, ever since, the return has been diminishing, with Rossi scoring five podiums in 2018, two in 2019 and just one last year.

The 2020 season marked his worst championship finish ever in 15th (although he did miss two rounds through COVID-19), while 2019’s seventh in the standings was his worst placement since his Ducati nadir in 2011 (also seventh). Rossi can’t take all the blame for this, for Yamaha’s machinery in recent years has been wildly inconsistent. But, while Maverick Vinales could still win two races in 2019 and Fabio Quartararo managed seven rostrums for Petronas SRT in his rookie campaign, these results sparking interest in the pair from Ducati, Yamaha was left with little choice.

When Rossi decided he wanted to wait before deciding on his post-2020 future, Yamaha elected to dump him for Quartararo. Yamaha promised works support should Rossi ultimately decide to stay, while the COVID pandemic ensured his move to SRT for 2021.

Valentino Rossi, Yamaha Factory Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Many have commented on this switch, double MotoGP champion Casey Stoner most significantly branding Rossi’s move to a satellite team for 2021 as “disappointing”. But, in actuality, it could be just the thing he needed to get rid of the rot that had set in deep.

While the factory teams still have the prestige and the resources that make them the dream place for any rider, a move back to a satellite team in modern day MotoGP isn’t a demotion. All but Avintia in 2021 has current-spec machinery and all are factory-backed. In 2020, satellite teams accounted for eight of the 14 victories and one came very close to winning the championship.

That team happened to be SRT, with Rossi protege Franco Morbidelli missing the crown by just 13 points to Suzuki’s Joan Mir. And, let’s not forget, 2020 was only SRT’s second season in MotoGP and Morbidelli was on the lesser ‘A-spec’ M1. It’s for good reason that Rossi is happy in his new surroundings.

“I was a factory rider for a long, long time,” Rossi said during SRT’s 2021 launch event. “I think from 2002 to 2020. So, [it] will be 19 seasons in MotoGP. But in the first two seasons for me in the 500s I was in a similar situation because I was in a satellite team and in the 500s it was another world.

"Vale likes the attention, his rucksack is big enough to deal with that. But also, the different atmosphere in our team, our way of working is a bit different to the factory team because there is less pressure" Wilco Zeelenberg

“But, in that moment I felt very comfortable… I’m happy about my technical situation because I have full support from Yamaha. And this team already demonstrated in its first two seasons it can win races, it can bring their riders to the top. So, I expect a very high level and I can’t wait to start the season.”

Following his first outing with the team in the Qatar pre-season test, in which he finished 11th overall, Rossi added: “The feeling with the new team and with all my staff is beautiful, the atmosphere is good.”

Rossi’s first two years in the premier class in 2000 and 2001 were with the Nastro Azurro Honda satellite squad – although, in reality, it was just a factory HRC team being operated by Honda Europe. While Rossi remains on a Yamaha contract in 2021 and retains full works support, SRT is a true satellite squad – and it’s one not fully built around him.

Valentino Rossi, Petronas Yamaha SRT

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Rossi was only allowed to bring crew chief David Munoz, data technician Matteo Flamigni and rider coach Idalio Gavira to SRT with him, bringing an end to the dream team of mechanics that have followed him throughout his MotoGP career. But this shows how serious SRT is about its own operation, the squad keen not to totally unravel what has helped take it to so much success already.

Even Rossi’s side of the garage has changed – the doctor occupying the right-hand side instead of the left for the very first time. It’s a minor detail, but one which points towards how SRT views Rossi. Yes, he’s no ordinary rider, but that’s just it – legend or otherwise, he’s a rider and he has to go out and deliver results the team expects.

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SRT doesn’t believe Rossi will have less pressure now he’s at a satellite team in 2021, but team manager Wilco Zeelenberg feels the fact his box won’t be full of different factory voices dictating set-up direction should allow him to focus more on himself.

"It's a good step for Vale to get into a different environment,” Zeelenberg noted. “Not that the factory team gives him much pressure, he is old and wise enough to deal with that. Vale likes the attention, his rucksack is big enough to deal with that. But also, the different atmosphere in our team, our way of working is a bit different to the factory team because there is less pressure. Also, there are less Japanese people involved, there are less people who decide on the setting of the bike.

“I think it will help him that there is one person in the team who is responsible for that. In the factory team it's different, there are many voices and many people with influence in a certain area. They feel a responsibility in that area. That's not always an easy way to work. There are many opinions and sometimes you lose time and also a clear direction.”

Rossi has always been a Sunday man. More often than not, he is able to dig deep and produce strong results come the race no matter how the weekend has gone up to that point. But losing direction has been something of an issue for Yamaha for a number of years, with riders in recent times being handed new items at various points only to bin them for not offering a clear gain. And Rossi even said last year Yamaha’s Japanese engineers tend to do what they want, regardless of rider feedback.

Valentino Rossi, Petronas Yamaha SRT

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Vinales has often spoken this winter about the fact new Yamaha test rider Cal Crutchlow will be able to remove some of the development work from race weekends the riders have previously had to do and allow them to focus more on race preparation. With Rossi not being at the centre of attention anymore, now he’s at SRT, he should be able to devote even more time to the part of the weekend he’s best at.

But Zeelenberg feels Rossi also has to change his approach on race weekends and stop deeply analysing data in favour of working on his own machine. Rossi doesn’t believe this is as big a problem as has been made out, but does agree with Zeelenberg.

“I mean, in reality also I never worked with Wilco,” Rossi said. “So, now we are in the box together and he sees more my job. I don’t stay a lot on the computer. I stay quite a lot, but for me I take his advice and already last year with David I spent less time looking at the data and I concentrated more on the riding style.

“I think you need to have a good compromise, but I like working hard because I enjoy, it’s my passion. I agree with Wilco that we don’t have to exaggerate [time spent looking at data].”

"I don’t race just to spend time. This is a very important season for me, because I come from the last two seasons – ’19 and ’20 – that are less than what I expected, especially in the result" Valentino Rossi

One other factor that could prove to unlock more potential from Rossi is his new team-mate. Rossi isn’t a stranger to having young team-mates, having been partnered by Jorge Lorenzo and Vinales at Yamaha since 2008. His relationship with the former wasn’t exactly friendly, but he and Vinales never had any major falling outs – largely because both spent the majority of their time together struggling through Yamaha’s numerous bike problems.

Morbidelli is an altogether different prospect for Rossi. The pair are blood brothers, Morbidelli a long-time VR46 Academy member and its most successful alumnus. Rossi is almost like a proud father when he sees his Academy pupils on the podium, his disappointment about losing a rostrum at the San Marino GP last year tempered by the fact Morbidelli led Francesco Bagnaia to a home 1-2.

It stands to reason, then, that a Morbidelli in the form of his career and positioned as one of the grid’s absolute strongest ahead of the new season will only provide positive impetus for Rossi to raise his game to try and get on terms with him. Not that Rossi is coming into 2021 lacking in motivation.

Franco Morbidelli, Petronas Yamaha SRT, Valentino Rossi, Yamaha Factory Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

“It’s life, 26 seasons is very long,” Rossi said when asked by Autosport about his 2021 expectations. “But I don’t race just to spend time. This is a very important season for me, because I come from the last two seasons – ’19 and ’20 – that are less than what I expected, especially in the result.

“The results will be important, will be the key. I want to be stronger, I want to be more competitive than in the last two years, fighting for the podium, fighting to win races and trying to be competitive throughout all the season. And the target is to be strong, be competitive from the beginning to the end.”

Life at SRT has started on a positive note. Although he was 0.810 seconds off the pace on combined times at the end of testing, his 1m53.993s was his fastest-ever lap of the Losail Circuit. The changes Yamaha has made to its 2021 bike, particularly the chassis, were met with praise from Rossi, while his long run pace was solid enough.

This is all hugely significant as he comes into the start of the season looking for the form to convince him he’s still competitive enough to justify a 27th season in grand prix racing in 2022.

We’ll probably never see the old Rossi again, but the version that comes into 2021 appears rejuvenated by his new surroundings and able to write some new chapters of success into his incredible history book.

Valentino Rossi, Petronas Yamaha SRT

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images