Valentino Rossi has reiterated that he has no plans to retire yet, despite the fact that he will be nearly 40 years old when his current contract expires in 2018.
Rossi broke a drought of just over a year in winning the Dutch Grand Prix, edging Italian compatriot Danilo Petrucci by just 0.063s.
The seven-time MotoGP premier class world champion signed a new two-year contract in early 2016, and says that he will seek another around the same time next year if he continues to race competitively.
“When I signed this contract, I thought, ‘Maybe it’s the last one,’ but I wasn’t sure and it depends very much,” Rossi said on the eve of this weekend’s German Grand Prix.
“I will decide at the beginning of the next season, but if I’m still competitive and able to win, I want to continue.”
The 38-year-old had stated that the exhilaration of winning races is his main motivation, after claiming a thrilling victory on the prior weekend.
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“It’s a very important victory, not only for the championship but the feeling,” said Rossi in the hours following the Dutch TT.
“Coming back to number one is fantastic. I race motorcycles for this feeling, for how I feel for five or six hours after the race, especially after a year without victory.”
Rossi reiterated the sentiments while speaking to media at the Sachsenring before he was questioned about his contract situation.
“I discovered that I race just for that feeling,” he elaborated.
“It (actually lasts) one day. You feel like you’re flying on a cloud, you feel happy and light.”
The veteran is just seven points adrift of championship leader Andrea Dovizioso approaching the halfway point of the season.
The top four are separated by just 11 points, the lowest margin through the first eight races since the current points systems was introduced in 1993.
Rossi says that the tightness of the title race is feeding on itself, with no clear contenders to race against.
“During a season, already after seven or eight races, you start to understand who is the main rival, and you start to race not only to do your best but also against him,” he explained.
“This year, every weekend changes, and everybody is good for the championship, so it means that you just have to give the maximum and try to make the best (of each race).”
Practice for the German Grand Prix begins this evening (AEST).
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