13-15
Round up of the events for this week ’ s Round 11 of MotoGP TM
Rossi to retire !
Valentino Rossi has announced he will retire from grand prix racing at the close of the 2021 season after an illustrious 26-year career racing in the world championship .
In an “ exceptional press conference ” called on the eve of the Styrian Grand Prix in Austria , the Italian confirmed he would hang up his racing leathers over the summer break despite having the offer to ride in his own VR46 team in 2022 , aboard Ducati machinery .
Now 42 years old , Rossi has been undergoing his worst season to date after switching from Yamaha ’ s factory team to the Petronas SRT Yamaha squad . Half way through the year , he was 19th in the World Championship after nine races , with a best result of a single tenth place .
His intention at the beginning of 2021 was to continue racing motorcycles next year , he explained . But recent struggles were enough to convince him it was time to stop . “ I wanted to continue when I start the championship ,” he said . “ But I needed to understand if I was fast enough . During the season our results were less than what I expect . Race by race I started to think .”
From here , Rossi will switch disciplines and series . The nine-time World Champion had always harbored ambitions to race on four wheels ( and came close to joining Ferrari in Formula1 at the close of 2005 ). In 2022 he will take on the challenge of racing cars full time . “ I love to race with the cars , just a little less than the motorcycle ,” he said . “ I would like to race the cars . I feel that I am a rider or driver all life-long . Just ( I will ) change motorcycles for cars , not at the same level , but I think I will race anyway .”
Suzuki gains ride height device
Joan Mir claimed his best result of 2021 – second place – was a consequence of Suzuki bringing a rear ride-height device to the Red Bull Ring . Prior to the summer break , the GSX-RR was the only MotoGP™ machine that didn ’ t feature the device that riders engage to squat the rear of the bike , to limit wheelies .
Mir had pushed Suzuki engineers hard to prepare it over the summer break . “ I had on my mind before coming that if the device is ready , I wanted to give information and to use it ,” he said . “ Without the device , we are always in a disadvantage . Finally it works . So , it ’ s true that we need to work a bit more on it . It ’ s not easy at the end without testing in Japan . It ’ s not the same in a grand prix . But , happy because they made a great job .”
On how he altered his riding with the device , he said , “ I changed a little bit the braking . You must have a little bit more careful in the first part of the braking area . Maybe this is one of the disadvantages we can have at the moment , but we gain on acceleration .”
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