The final round of the season at Circuit Ricardo Tormo is the last race for both Valentino Rossi and PETRONAS Yamaha SRT
his weekend is set to be an emotional one as the 2021 season concludes for Valentino Rossi and Andrea Dovizioso with the Gran Premio de la Comunitat Valenciana, which is also the last MotoGP race for Rossi – after 26 years – and for PETRONAS Yamaha Sepang Racing Team – after 3 years.
After an amazing 22 years in the premier class, Rossi will end his MotoGP career this weekend at Valencia – a circuit that has seen him claim victory twice, step on the podium seven times and start from pole position three times. After scoring points in the past three races, including a top-ten finish at the EmiliaRomagnaGP, the Italian will be hoping to maintain this streak and give his fans something extra to cheer about this weekend, as he says ‘ciao’ to his yellow-clad army.
Team-mate Dovizioso will also be aiming to achieve another points-scoring finish, having finished in the top-15 in all but the first of his races with PETRONAS Yamaha SRT. Circuit Ricardo Tormo is somewhere that has provided the Italian with some good memories in the past, including a win in 2018. Despite only joining the Malaysian squad towards the closing stages of the season, Andrea has made good progress and hopes to end 2021 on a high.
Rossi and Dovizioso will be out on track at 9.55am local time (4.55pm MYT) on Friday for FP1, while the 2021 season will come to a close with the 27-lap MotoGP race at 2pm local time (9pm MYT) Sunday.
46
Valentino Rossi
“Valencia is always a special weekend and can be a difficult race in different aspects, especially as it is always the final round of the year – apart from last year when we ended in Portugal. However, it is somewhere that I have had some very good times. I’m hoping that we have some good weather there so that we can focus on ending the final race in the top-15 and take some more points.”
Although it will be my last race in MotoGP I feel normal and I think that’s okay, especially as this has been a very long season; maybe the days after the weekend will be different this year, but we will see. I hope that I will have the chance to say ‘ciao’ to my fans in a good way and to say thank you for the support.
04
Andrea Dovizioso
” I’m hoping that this weekend we can continue adapting to the bike more, as we made some small steps forward last time out at Portimão. It will be important to maintain this and continue working in the right direction in Valencia, to end the season as best as we can. My main target is going to be to gain more confidence on the bike, as this is also very important for me to do before the end of the season. Although I’m enjoying riding again and gaining experience, I am happy to finish the season – hopefully with some more points – because I’m looking forward to starting the 2022 one.”
