Valentino Rossi has reportedly decided on a new two-year deal with Yamaha.
With the Italian winning the last three races in a row - and holding the MotoGP World Championship lead heading into this weekend's Catalan Grand Prix - a contract extension was never in serious doubt, but Rossi has been considering whether to sign for one or two years.
"Yamaha told me you decide how long you want to extend it for, and I have decided it will be two years," Reuters reports the Italian as having told Spanish sports daily Mundo Deportivo.
"I wanted to wait and see how much motivation I had left to continue, and there is my decision."
Despite a decision on the length of his new contract, it is thought that the contract itself has not yet been signed, since some minor details remain.
29-year-old Rossi - who is negotiating his own contract - has set the start of the MotoGP summer break, on July 21, as an unofficial deadline by which his future will be decided.
After winning three consecutive titles for Honda, Rossi joined Yamaha in 2004 - where he took two further world championships in succession, before losing out to Honda's Nicky Hayden in 2006 and Ducati's Casey Stoner in 2007.
Rossi has successfully switched to Bridgestone tyres for 2008 and considers this year's YZR-M1 to be the best he has ever ridden.
Rossi's factory team-mate Jorge Lorenzo plus Tech 3's James Toseland are already under contract for 2009, meaning that just one M1 seat - currently occupied by Colin Edwards - remains undecided for next season.
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