The separation between Rossi and Yamaha was marked by the worst result in MotoGP.
Valentino Rossi and Yamaha will end the journey with Yamaha at the Portuguese MotoGP. Unfortunately, the separation of Rossi and Yamaha was marked by poor results, the worst position in MotoGP. Since appearing in the premier class, Rossi's worst record at the end of the season is finishing seventh. This was obtained when he rode a Ducati in MotoGP 2011 and with Yamaha in MotoGP 2019.
But the achievement of the two seasons will be broken by a worse record this season. Rossi is currently in 15th place in the 2020 MotoGP standings. Rossi did not get points in six consecutive series, because he failed to finish and was absent due to being positive for corona, before finally getting four points from MotoGP Valencia last week.
Currently Rossi has a collection of 62 points. If he could win in the Portuguese MotoGP, an additional 25 points would take him to 87 points. The best position that Rossi can achieve with that value is the 11th position currently occupied by Brad Binder. That is on condition that Brad Binder does not get plus points seeing the finishing position of Danilo Petrucci, Johann Zarco, and Alex Marquez. Rossi might even be displaced by Pecco Bagnaia if Bagnaia could get on the podium and Rossi performed poorly.
The 11-16 position that Rossi might get will clearly be the worst position in his career at Yamaha. Rossi's bad record cannot be separated from the bad luck he experienced in the second half of the 2020 MotoGP. He failed to finish five times due to accidents and engine problems plus missed two series due to corona positive.
Next season, Rossi is still riding Yamaha but defends the Petronas team. The Portuguese MotoGP race will be a farewell series between Rossi and Yamaha.