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Rossi emerges from retirement to race selected American Flat Track rounds

Apr 01, 2022

Nine-time world champion Valentino Rossi, who has put in countless flat-track laps at his Motor Ranch training facility in Italy, will partially emerge from his retirement from motorcycle racing to compete at select rounds of the American Flat Track series this year.

After his retirement last year from MotoGP, Rossi signed to race on four wheels in the GT World Challenge series. But now, 43-year-old Rossi has decided to fill in the gaps in his European car-racing tour with some AFT races in the United States.

Rossi will go AFT racing by buying a fully prepped Yamaha MT-07-based flat-track race bike from Estenson Racing, one of the top teams in AFT, giving him a convenient, turn-key entry into the series. Both Estenson Racing riders, J.D. Beach and class rookie Dallas Daniels, have already put the Yamaha on the podium in the AFT SuperTwins class this season, so it's definitely competitive. Plus, racing the MT-07 keeps Rossi in the Yamaha camp, where he spent much of his career.

The question now is whether Rossi can come into the AFT series and challenge the established pros. He'll be an underdog, for sure, but he's taking the challenge seriously. Even before he issued his announcement about his plans, he had posted photos of him training on the flat track at his Motor Ranch with VR46 Riders Academy racers and invited guests such as MotoGP racer Andrea Dovizioso.

Rossi will race the Sacramento Mile, the Peoria TT and the season-ending Volusia Half-Mile race. The first two do not conflict with his GT World Challenge commitments and the final round in Florida comes after the end of his car-racing season. The three races will give Rossi a shot at a mile, half-mile and TT track.

"I want very much to race the famous Springfield Mile but it is the same day as the Hockenheim race in GT," Rossi said. "Isa great pity."

Will we see a VR46-flag-waving section in the grandstand at the Sacramento Mile and yellow smoke bombs going off in Peoria? Prepare for some Rossimania in the heartland this summer and fall.