"For me it’s very difficult to understand where my retirement news started from, as I never spoke about my retirement."
ANY news that came out of yesterday's press conference was no doubt overshadowed by Casey Stoner revealing that he would retire at the end of the season, but Valentino Rossi had an announcement of his own as he confirmed he would continue racing a further two years past 2012.
Rumours of Rossi's retirement started at the beginning of last week after a report in the Daily Telegraph claimed he would stop racing at the end of the year, and the Italian commented on this in the Le Mans press conference: "For me it’s very difficult to understand where my retirement news started from, as I never spoke about my retirement. I want to race in MotoGP for the next two years for sure.”
The former MotoGP champion also added his thoughts on Stoner's retirement: “Yes, it’s a big surprise. I think it’s bad news for all the MotoGP world because at the end of the season maybe we’re losing one of the great riders and a great rival. Is negative, but it’s his own decision."
There are questions of whether Valentino Rossi will remain at Ducati for these final two seasons of his career, but the seven-time MotoGP champion has said he has a desire to win a title on the Desmosedici.
But he must be on the shopping list for Honda also...
