Rossi to rejoin Yamaha after leaving Ducati

ROME, (Reuters): Italian motorcycling great Valentino Rossi will leave Ducati at the end of the 2012 MotoGP season and rejoin Yamaha on a two-year deal, the Japanese-owned team said on Friday.

“In June, we were able to sign Jorge Lorenzo for the 2013-14 campaign and now we are able to confirm Valentino Rossi for the next two years,” Yamaha Motor Racing managing director Lin Jarvis said in a statement.

The 33-year-old nine-times world champion - seven in the highest class - first joined Yamaha in 2004 and won four MotoGP titles with the manufacturer before agreeing a two-year deal with Ducati at the end of the 2010 season.

Ducati said they were in the process of finalising their 2013 championship line-up having recently renewed their agreement with American Nicky Hayden. Spaniard Lorenzo, MotoGP champion in 2010, has ridden for Yamaha since 2008 and leads the current championship by 23 points after 10 races. Rossi is down in eighth place, having secured just one podium finish all season.