Valentino Rossi vows to race on until end of 2014

Valentino Rossi will not be joining Casey Stoner in quitting the MotoGP world championship at the end of 2012.

Double MotoGP world champion Stoner stunned the paddock in Le Mans tonight when he confirmed he will retire at the end of 2012, when the Australian will be only 27.

But Italian Rossi once again dismissed recent speculation that he will retire at the end of the campaign after struggling to be competitive on Ducati’s Desmosedici machine.

Reports in British newspaper The Daily Telegraph said Rossi had informed those closest to him, including father Graziano, of his intention to quit at the end of the season.

But Rossi confirmed on the eve of the French Grand Prix in Le Mans today that he has no desire to walk away from racing and was mystified at how the rumours had started.

The nine-times world champion said: “For me it is very difficult to understand where the news starts because I have never spoken about my retirement and I want to race in MotoGP for the next two years for sure.”