Nine time champion Valentino Rossi, is eagerly awaiting the start of the 2017 MotoGP Championship season in Qatar this March where he is expecting to put up a strong challenge to his rivals.
Speaking at the launch of the new Yamaha on Thursday, Rossi revealed how much he had missed not being out on track since the 2016 season ending Valencia GP last November and is eager to get on the new bike at the first test of 2017 at the Sepang track in Malaysia in just over a weeks' time.
“After the winter break, the team launch is always a very exciting time for everybody, not only for us, the riders and the team, but also for the fans,” Rossi said at Thursday's launch. "Sincerely, I‘m just as happy as they are to start the new season, I have missed riding my bike.”
“The pre-season test in Sepang will be an interesting moment, we will get a good idea of our level and it‘s also the first time I‘ll get to take the YZR-M1 out on track in its 2017 colours.”
“This is the fourth year that Movistar will be our team‘s title sponsor. In the last three years, we enjoyed some fantastic battles and great results and this season the target remains the same: to be competitive again and fight for the victory in every race. I have a new strong teammate and I think we can have a lot of fun this season.”
