Rossi working to have own team in MotoGP next year

Valentino Rossi is pushing hard to have his own team in MotoGP next year, according to international media. Three MotoGP licences become available next year, to increase the grid total to 24, two of which are guaranteed for the new KTM Works team.

Yamaha Movistar has announced that  Valentino Rossi has signed a new contract that will keep him in the team and MotoGP until the end of 2018. However, during a Movistar TV commentary in free practice, it was revealed that Rossi is chasing the entry for his own team.

Rossi will likely wish to enter either a Yamaha M1, with factory support, or a third KTM, the manufacturer that supplies his Moto3 team as a team-owner. His Sky Racing Team VR46, currently competing in Moto3, will be his main association with motorbike racing when he hangs up his helmet.

He launched Team VR46 in the Moto3 class in 2014, guiding the career of Italy’s Romano Fenati during the past two seasons, and also running Andrea Migno and Nicolo Bulega this season. Rossi said of his squad at the start of the year, “The team was created just over a year ago and we still need to improve in many areas, but we have already done well.”

Earlier, Rossi has denied interest in bringing his team to MotoGP, telling Gazzetta dello Sport in March, “MotoGP is another story. It doesn't interest us much”. His team is managed on a day-to-day basis by Pablo Nieto.