2006 will be his last on MotoGP [Unless of course a team comes up with
a INSANE offer...]:
MotoGP star Valentino Rossi has tested a Ferrari F1 car again this
week, completing an intensive two day test session at Ferrari's private
test track, Fiorano. Rossi - who holds a commanding lead in this year's
MotoGP World Championship - ran more 80 laps at the wheel of last
year's F2004 chassis over the allocated two days, under the watchful
eye of Ferrari's Spanish test driver Marc Gené, and the Scuderia's
engineers, as well as Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo, and
Sporting Director Jean Todt. In fact to emphasis the top-level interest
taken by senior Ferrari management in Rossi's test his debrief was
carried out by Ross Brawn. His best time - a lap of the private test
track in 58.3 seconds in non-ideal weather conditions - was just over
two seconds adrift of the lap record, held by Michael Schumacher.
The timing of this test has caught observers by surprise. Rossi - who
is very close to Ferrari, and previously drove one of the team's cars
briefly at Fiorano last year - on Monday signed a one year extension to
his MotoGP Yamaha contract. "Rossi has a standing offer from Ferrari.
He is welcome to come test whenever he wants," a Ferrari source said of
the test, adding: "Apparently he wanted some more testing to see how he
does in an F1 car."
Persistent rumours link the Italian star to a Ferrari drive, and many
people within F1 believe that this supremely talented sportsman could
make the switch successfully, just like seven times bike champion John
Surtees did - the British driver going on to win the F1 title behind
the wheel of a Ferrari in 1964. Formula One's boss, Bernie Ecclestone,
has stated in the past that he would like to see him switch to Grand
Prix racing. Rossi - who is 26 years old - has also been recently
linked to a drive with Fiat's proposed new 'Super 2000' rally programme
in the near future. In fact Fiat's competitions boss, Matilde
Tommagnini, has recently expressed her desire to have Rossi to test the
new 2.0-litre rally Punto, a prototype of which has recently been
running at Balocco in the hand of Paolo Andreucci.
Adding further life to the equation is the fact that Rossi's test took
place at exactly the same time that the Scuderia were adjusting their
driver line-up, for the first time in five years. On Tuesday Ferrari
announced that - as had been rumoured - Rubens Barrichello would be
leaving the team, to be replaced by his fellow countryman Felipe Massa,
a former Ferrari test driver, who is currently driving for the Sauber
team.
Rossi's best time - a lap of the Fiorano test track in 58.3 seconds in
non-ideal weather conditions - was just over two seconds adrift of the
lap record, set by Michael Schumacher
With eight wins - out of the ten races held this year thus far - Rossi
is currently cruising towards the MotoGP world title
Massa's contract with the Scuderia is for one year only, and likewise,
Michael Schumacher's contract also expires at the end of 2006, just as
Rossi's one year extension with Yamaha will do.
Former Ferrari F1 star Jean Alesi was impressed with Rossi's test.
"Fifty-eight-three in the summer, meaning in non-ideal conditions?
Formidable," Corriere della Sera reported the Frenchman as saying.
"Valentino makes me dream and I say he has nothing to lose. Go ahead
and try it. Everyone likes him, from the Italians to the Japanese."
At the end of the second day of testing at the Fiorano track, the Moto
GP World Champion has showed his satisfaction: "I wanted to get a
better understanding of a Formula 1 car," he commented, "and I would
like to thank Ferrari for giving me the opportunity to do so. The two
days were intensive and interesting. I completed a lot of kilometres
and I began to understand the handling of the car, working with the
engineers and Marc Gené. I go back to the two wheels where there is
still a long way to go to the end of the season".
With eight wins - out of ten races held this year thus far - Rossi is
currently cruising to the MotoGP title. Last weekend he won the German
Grand Prix at the Sachsenring - a track he professes to dislike,
passing title rival Marco Melandri in an audacious move on the final
lap, while the fortnight previous he had splashed to victory in the
rain-soaked British Grand Prix at Donington Park, a real triumph gained
despite the appalling elements.
With just 7 of the 17 rounds remaining to be contested, Rossi has a
virtually-unassailable 120 point MotoGP eries lead. He now has 236
championship points, with Marco Melandri his closest rival, albeit on
116 points, and followed by Sete Gibernau (115), Colin Edwards (114),
Max Biagi (113) and Alex Barron (101).
auscars@yahoo.com Thu, 4 Aug 2005 20:20:55
>2006 will be his last on MotoGP [Unless of course a team comes up with
>a INSANE offer...]:
It's also been said that he wants to win the first 800cc championship.
And MCN is speculating this week that he's asked Yamaha to produce a 250
and is considering trying to win 250 and MotoGP in the same year.
Who knows...
--
Julian Bond E&MSN: julian_bond at voidstar.com M: +44 (0)77 5907 2173
Webmaster: http://www.ecademy.com/ T: +44 (0)192 0412 433
Personal WebLog: http://www.voidstar.com/ S: callto://julian.bond
*** Just Say No To DRM ***
XML Sitemap
>a INSANE offer...]: