Seven times world champion sticks with Japanese team (ANSA) - Rome, June 1 - Seven times world champion Valentino Rossi will ride for Yamaha again next year in the MotoGP championship, sources at the Japanese team's said at the Mugello track on Thursday Rossi, currently in his third year with Yamaha, announced last week that he would not be making the switch from MotoGP to Formula 1, to the disappointment of Ferrari fans and marketing experts .
The 27-year-old Italian rider thanked Ferrari for having given him the opportunity to test a Formula 1 car but said "my job in motorcycling is still not done" .

Speaking on Thursday, at the start of the Italian Grand Prix weekend, Rossi said he was excited to be riding for Yamaha another year and that "these past two years with them have been two of the best of my career". "I believe I have made the right choice and I am very excited about the challenge of a new class of racing with Yamaha next year," he added .



A statement from Yamaha said that Rossi would "continue to spearhead Yamaha's Grand Prix challenge and bike development, as MotoGP enters a new era of 800cc racing in 2007" .

Rossi joined Yamaha in 2004, after winning three straight premier championships with Honda, and that year gave the Japanese team its first title since American Wayne Rainey won it 1992 .

In doing so, Rossi became the only other rider aside from Eddie Lawson to win back-to-back titles on different bikes. Lawson did it on a Yamaha in 1988 and a Honda in 1989 .

The Italian went on to win the championship again in 2005 but this year has been having perhaps his worst season ever .

After winning 11 races last year, Rossi has won only one race out of the five so far this season and has failed to complete the last two Grand Prix .

Rossi currently finds himself relegated to eighth place, 43 points behind leader Nicky Hayden, with 12 races left to go .