Valentino Rossi calls for changes to 'boring' MotoGP

 

Australian MotoGP

  • Venue: Phillip Island, Victoria, Australia
  • Saturday 27 October: Qualifying: 03:55 BST - 07:05 BST, Red Button
  • Sunday 28 October: Moto2 & 3 races online and on Red Button 01:55 - 04:05 GMT; MotoGP race on BBC 2 04:30 - 06:00 GMT and online. Repeated on BBC 2 12:45 - 14:00.

Valentino Rossi has called MotoGP "boring" and said that the sport has to change.

Jorge Lorenzo and fellow Spaniard Dani Pedrosa have dominated this year's championship, winning 12 out of the 16 races so far between them.

"Now is the worst moment in MotoGP since I joined in 2000," Rossi told BBC Sport.

Analysis

Image of Steve Parrish Steve Parrish BBC motorcycling commentator

"I expect Rossi to be back on the podium regularly and in the hunt to win races again which, with Casey Stoner leaving the sport at the end of the season, will be much needed."

Read more from Steve Parrish here

"It is the most boring moment. Races are quite bad and it is very difficult to stay awake."

Defending champion Casey Stoner - who is retiring at the age of 27 next month - is the only other man to win this season and seven-time MotoGP champion Rossi believes the sport needs to change.

He said: "You look at Moto3, the races are very exciting, Moto2 is fantastic and then MotoGP is boring. So they have to change the product."

Rossi, 33, believes he can return to winning ways next season as he prepares to return to Yamaha. He won four world championships with Yamaha before leaving for Ducati at the end of 2010, but has not won in the last 37 races.

He told BBC Sport: "This is not the time in my career to be struggling every weekend like this.

"It will be difficult but I think that I have the potential to win some races next year."

Valentino Rossi's MotoGP record

  • 2000 : 209 points, Honda, 2nd in championship
  • 2001 : 325, Honda, 1st
  • 2002 : 355, Honda, 1st
  • 2003 : 357, Honda, 1st
  • 2004 : 304, Yamaha, 1st
  • 2005 : 367, Yamaha. 1st
  • 2006 : 247, Yamaha, 2nd
  • 2007 : 241, Yamaha, 3rd
  • 2008: 373, Yamaha, 1st
  • 2009 : 306, Yamaha, 1st
  • 2010 : 233, Yamaha, 3rd
  • 2011 : 139, Ducati, 7th
  • 2012: 148, Ducati, 6th (current)

Rossi last won a grand prix in Malaysia in 2010, and has managed just three podium finishes in his two seasons on a Ducati.

He signed a two-year deal to return to Yamaha earlier this year but admits he regrets not being able to be competitive for Ducati.

He said: "It is a great pity for me at Ducati.

"It was a dream, it was a great and important bet to try and win for Ducati but unfortunately we have no way. It has been two very difficult seasons.

"We try lots of things but we were never able to fix the problems. We had some good races and a few good results but not what everyone expects. We lose the bet."

Rossi will be in the unusual situation of being the second rider in his Yamaha team next season, as he partners Lorenzo again.

Lorenzo is on course to win his second championship this season and will be the team's number one rider, but Rossi is determined to be at the front again.

He said: "I am at a certain age and I don't know how many years I will continue in MotoGP, so I have to race with the best bike that I can.

"Fortunately during my career I have won more or less everything so I need to enjoy it to have the right motivation. I need to arrive at the circuit every weekend with the chance to fight for the victory. It will be difficult but that is why I change teams."