What has been regarded as one of the most highly-anticipated debuts has finally taken place in MotoGP, folks. The Petronas Yamaha SRT squad has unveiled its latest 2021 livery for the MotoGP premier class together with their two star Italian riders, Franco Morbidelli and the legend himself, nine-time world champion, Valentino Rossi.

The virtual launch also showcased the 2021 Yamaha YZR-M1 both riders will be campaigning throughout the 2021 season. Both Rossi and Morbidelli will be looking into providing some world-class racing action at the end of the month when the 2021 MotoGP world championship begins in Qatar.

According to Dato’ Razlan Razali, Team Principal of Petronas Yamaha SRT, We are proud to represent Malaysia and Petronas on the world stage in MotoGP for a third season as Petronas Yamaha Sepang Racing Team. We are looking forward to the season ahead, eager to give Franco and Valentino the best opportunity. For Franco, it’s a fabulous opportunity to achieve even better things than his stellar season in 2020 and for Valentino we’re hoping a new team will give him the best opportunities to harness his talent and expertise.”

As for Franco Morbidelli, he stated “This will be my third year with the team and there are many things I like about Petronas Yamaha SRT. The 2021 YZR-M1 livery is similar to the last two years, but still changed; It’s the same but different so I like it. What is different from last years is my teammate; I expect and hope it will be a great season for Vale [Valentino Rossi] and me. We have had a strong relationship for many years and we will learn a lot from each other.”

“My personal target for 2021 is to get better; improve myself as a person, rider and athlete. I know it’s hard and difficult because last year we were quite fast and we made great races and achieved great results. Nevertheless, we will have to try to improve compared with 2020, so that’s my aim, try to be better year after year.”

Positive remarks also came from Valentino Rossi, who stated “I’m very proud to be part of Petronas Yamaha Sepang Racing Team. It’s a new challenge for me. This is a very young team, but in the last two years they have already been really competitive. I’m happy to see my new bike for this year and I really like the colours of the livery, leathers, helmet, etc. It looks awesome. My targets for 2021 is to be competitive, fight to win races, fight to achieve podiums and also fight for a good position in the World Championship standings at the end of the season.”

“We are all very focused on our targets to make the best we can. I think that with Franco we are a very interesting couple of riders as we know each other really well. All the whole team has a lot of motivation and I will give my maximum to achieve together the best possible result at the end of the calendar. We are ready to start.” Added the nine-time world champion.