In Thursday’s pre-event press conference at the Monster Energy Grand Prix de France, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP rider Valentino Rossi expressed his intention to stay in MotoGP™ for two more years.

The nine-time World Champion, who made his Grand Prix debut in 1996 and has been racing in the premier class since 2000, is currently in the second season of a two-year contract with Yamaha having returned to the Japanese factory from a spell with Ducati.

Over recent months Rossi has hinted that he would like to continue racing beyond 2014, but on Thursday in Le Mans he provided his most positive assertion to date regarding his future.

Asked directly about his contract situation Rossi revealed that he is in a positive frame of mind about negotiations to remain in MotoGP. He said: “Last year I had some good races, one victory, but in the second part of the season I was a bit too far from the top three. So I wanted to see if this year would be any better.”

“Sincerely I feel better and I am enjoying it a lot, to continue to race and to work with Yamaha and my team. So my project is to make another contract for two seasons and I think in the next weeks, during the next races we will talk with Yamaha in order to continue.”