Quartararo and Marquez headline competitive grid in post-Rossi era

A frustrated reigning champion, a rejuvenated former champion and riders in the final years of their contracts are set to spice up the 2022 MotoGP season as a new era dawns in the sport - one without Valentino Rossi on the grid.

Rossi, the man who popularised the sport in a glittering 25-year career, will no longer have his name in the riders' column after his retirement last year, but on the teams list as his VR46 Racing Team makes its premier class debut when the season gets underway in Qatar this weekend.

"It is the closing of a circle for me and also for all the people who have worked with so much passion on this project over the years," Rossi said after the machines were unveiled in grand style at an opera theatre in Italy.

Yamaha's Fabio Quartararo became the first Frenchman to win the title last season, ending nine years of Spanish dominance, but things have been far from ideal in pre-season testing as he cut a dispirited figure due to the new bike's lack of pace.

Quartararo finished on the podium 10 times last year, with five race wins, to lift the title but the 22-year-old is worried about the lack of improvement in the Yamaha YZR-M1's top speed.

"To be honest, I don't know where we can improve. When you start to feel the front moving everywhere, the rear is spinning at the limit, you're touching the elbow everywhere, it's difficult to find more," Quartararo said after pre-season tests.

Quartararo has put contract talks on hold to keep his future "wide open" and with rival teams circling, Yamaha team director Maio Meregalli insists the Frenchman extending his stay beyond 2022 is their "first priority".

"It's true that he has received proposals, but we are confident and doing what we can to secure him for the next two