“Last night I spoke with (Yamaha racing boss Masao) Furusawa and he said that I can test the Ducati after the Valencia GP,” Rossi was quoted as saying to the aforementioned source, as cited by Autosport.
Shortly after announcing his new deal with Ducati, about two months ago, Rossi expressed hopes that Yamaha will let him begin his collaboration with his new employer from the next day the season ends. Contractually speaking, his agreement with Yamaha is due to run out at the end of the 2010 calendar year, which means he would have missed the opportunity to test his new Ducati bike throughout the remaining months of the year (the season finale is scheduled in early November).
However, after speaking to his team boss, Rossi managed to convince him to let him go, after which he expressed his gratitude for the Japanese manufacturer's decision.
“I think that it's the right choice after everything there has been between us and a way to thank me for my work and commitment. I would like to thank them; it's a nice sportsmanlike gesture, also because with the limits on testing it's not as if you decide when you can do the tests,” added Rossi.
The 7-time MotoGP champion went through the same situation when he moved from Honda to Yamaha back in 2003. Back then, Honda denied him the right to join his new team immediately after the season ended, becoming the first team to do that to one of its former riders.
The first test of the off-season kicks off in Valencia the very next day after the final round of the 2010 campaign.
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