Valentino Rossi acknowledged the emotional farewell to the Yamaha team at the 2020 Portuguese MotoGP which was the closing season of this year’s season.
The 2020 season was the last time Rossi became part of the Yamaha factory team which is now called Monster Energy Yamaha.
Most of Rossi’s career was spent in the team. Since 2004 The Doctor has been with Yamaha, despite having been to Ducati in 2010 and 2011.
“[I’m going to lose] people. I don’t think there will be much change on the technical side. However my 15 years of career was an important part of my life,” he said.
“I have a lot of friends in this team, so this is more on the humanity side,” Rossi continued, who will join the Petronas Yamaha SRT team next season, quoted from Speedweek.
In the upcoming season, Rossi has already selected people to be brought to Petronas such as crew chief David Munoz, coach Idalio Gavira and technician Matteo Flamigni.
Rossi did not deny that he would lose the people he had met in the Monster Energy garage.
“There was an emotional moment when I came back to the pits. Mainly because my story didn’t just end with the team, but with some important people in the garage, like Alex [Briggs] and Brent [Stephens]. It’s so emotional,” Rossi mentioned two mechanics whom he had worked with for a long time.
Rossi ended the 2020 MotoGP by finishing 12th in the Portuguese MotoGP. Overall, Rossi has ranked 15th in the drivers’ standings with 66 points.