Sunday, December 7, 2008
The MotoGP legend has what it takes to be a success on four wheels.
WHEN Valentino Rossi finished the first day of the Wales Rally GB in the top 25, claims that the six-time MotoGP world champion was offered a Formula One race drive by Ferrari for 2007 were lent credibility.
Ferrari have not confirmed any such offer was made. Neither are they likely to, despite the insistence of Rossi’s MotoGP team manager, Davide Brivio, that the rider turned down the deal. But Rossi’s performance on Friday suggested his instinctive control of fast-moving machinery is unaffected by the number of wheels. If, as the 29-year-old acknowledged, the time to contemplate a permanent switch to F1 has passed, a season or two behind the wheel of a world rally car remains on the cards.
David Richards, the commercial supremo of the world rally championship (WRC), would love to have the charismatic Italian competing in the sport, though Rossi remains equivocal.
Having won the MotoGP world championship again last season, he has a contract with Yamaha to complete next year and has made it clear he would like that to be extended. Only in the unlikely event that it is not extended might he be tempted to follow Mike Hailwood and John Surtees in proving it is possible to excel in different motorsport disciplines.
Surtees is the only man to have won the world title in motorsport’s two premier disciplines. He held the 500cc motorcycle crown four times before winning the 1964 F1 championship in a Ferrari. Hailwood won nine motorbike world titles in seven years, including the 500cc championship four years in a row from 1962 to 1965. Having taken part in his first F1 race in 1963, he switched to cars full-time in 1969.
Rossi also has an example closer to home: his father, Graziano, took up rallying after his promising riding career was cut short by an accident.
Rossi, whose Ford Focus RS WRC car is carrying the logo of the BBC’s Children in Need charity, said swapping between motorbike and rally car was not a problem. “It’s different, but not difficult, and my main target is to have fun,” he said. “The big difference is that to go fast in MotoGP, you have to be absolutely a part of the bike. In the car you can’t move. You are more like a robot.”
Starting day two was an improvement on his first official attempt in 2002, when his Rally GB ended in a ditch on the second stage.
Ferrari have not confirmed any such offer was made. Neither are they likely to, despite the insistence of Rossi’s MotoGP team manager, Davide Brivio, that the rider turned down the deal. But Rossi’s performance on Friday suggested his instinctive control of fast-moving machinery is unaffected by the number of wheels. If, as the 29-year-old acknowledged, the time to contemplate a permanent switch to F1 has passed, a season or two behind the wheel of a world rally car remains on the cards.
David Richards, the commercial supremo of the world rally championship (WRC), would love to have the charismatic Italian competing in the sport, though Rossi remains equivocal.
Having won the MotoGP world championship again last season, he has a contract with Yamaha to complete next year and has made it clear he would like that to be extended. Only in the unlikely event that it is not extended might he be tempted to follow Mike Hailwood and John Surtees in proving it is possible to excel in different motorsport disciplines.
Surtees is the only man to have won the world title in motorsport’s two premier disciplines. He held the 500cc motorcycle crown four times before winning the 1964 F1 championship in a Ferrari. Hailwood won nine motorbike world titles in seven years, including the 500cc championship four years in a row from 1962 to 1965. Having taken part in his first F1 race in 1963, he switched to cars full-time in 1969.
Rossi also has an example closer to home: his father, Graziano, took up rallying after his promising riding career was cut short by an accident.
Rossi, whose Ford Focus RS WRC car is carrying the logo of the BBC’s Children in Need charity, said swapping between motorbike and rally car was not a problem. “It’s different, but not difficult, and my main target is to have fun,” he said. “The big difference is that to go fast in MotoGP, you have to be absolutely a part of the bike. In the car you can’t move. You are more like a robot.”
Starting day two was an improvement on his first official attempt in 2002, when his Rally GB ended in a ditch on the second stage.
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