With just 27 day to go, to the opening race in Qatar, PETRONAS Yamaha Sepang Racing Team is excited to start its third season in the MotoGP World Championship campaign with riders Franco Morbidelli and Valentino Rossi showcasing their 2021 Yamaha YZR-M1 through a virtual launch today.
Franco and Valentino were introduced by Team Principal, Razlan Razali, with further insight imparted by Team Director, Johan Stigefelt and Team Manager, Wilco Zeelenberg. Team owner, Sepang International Circuit and title Partner PETRONAS were also represented in the online launch.
After a stellar second season in 2020, where the team and rider Franco Morbidelli finished the year as vice champions in their respective championships, PETRONAS Yamaha Sepang Racing Team is eager to continue its extraordinary story of success as the first-ever Malaysian team in MotoGP.
In 2019 the team became Top Independent Team, finishing fourth in the overall team standings, with rider Fabio Quartararo taking the Rookie of the Year title and Top Independent Rider. Over the course of last year the team was on the top step of the podium six times as well as leading the standings for most of the year before finishing the season as the Top Independent Team – and second in the overall standings – with Franco Vice Champion as well as Top Independent Rider.
2021 sees Franco joined by Greatest Of All Time rider Valentino Rossi who will add an extra dimension of championship-winning knowledge and potential to the squad. Featuring an updated look with the latest PETRONAS branding, the team’s Yamaha YZR-M1 will be in Factory-spec for Valentino and A-spec Plus for Franco.
2021 also marks the third year of PETRONAS as the team’s title partner. The impressive results achieved by the team over the past two seasons are a testament to the Malaysian energy company’s Fluid Technology Solutions that powered PYSRT to its six MotoGP wins in 2020.
Razlan Razali, Team Principal:
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.
The team has enjoyed an incredible trajectory since entering the sport and we are thankful to PETRONAS and Yamaha for enabling this through their strong support and shared philosophy and aspirations.
2020 was an incredible year for us, but we are mindful that there are always areas where we can improve. We expect another tough fight on track over the season ahead and we will be pushing at every step to support Franco and Valentino and ensure they have all the tools at their disposal.
As a team, PETRONAS Sepang Racing Team also incorporates PETRONAS Sprinta Racing in Moto2 and Moto3 as we are proud to have supremely strong line-ups of riders and crew in these categories. For Xavi and Jake in Moto2 and John and Darryn in Moto3 we expect very exciting seasons ahead
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