HE'S CHASING AGOSTINI'S RECORD OF 122 GP WINS

+ Click to Enlarge 'I WANT 10 YEARS IN A CAR': Rallying has always appealed to MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi. Here he is at the wheel of a Ford Focus on the 2006 Monza Rally - which he won. Image: AFP

October 27, 2009
By Mark Meadows

Valentino Rossi could delay a possible switch to rallying now that a ninth motorcycling World title has failed to diminish his will to win on two wheels.

Rossi clinched another MotoGP title with third place in Sunday's Malaysian GP but had kept his options open about what would happen when his Yamaha contract ended in 2010.

A career in rallying has always appealed to him and he recently fuelled rumours he would change sports sooner rather than later after saying his future in 2011 was a mystery.

However, the emotion of a seventh premier title on Sunday prompted a suggestion he would stick with bikes until the end of 2012.

He said: "If I had to decide today I would sign up for another two seasons."

Rossi has achieved almost everything in MotoGP; the only goal left in the sport is fellow Italian Giacomo Agostini's record of 122 GP wins.

Rossi has 103 and would have to race for at least two more seasons to break the record - more likely three, given that he has won six GP's in 2009.

Even then it would be a difficult task given that Ducati's Casey Stoner and Yamaha team mate Jorge Lorenzo would continue to challenge him.

He said: "I want to defend the title in 2010 and have more good battles with Lorenzo and Stoner. Maybe I can get close to that record of 122, it depends what I decide in 2011, if I take a one or two-year contract."

Italians would love him to smash the record on a Ducati rather than on a Yamaha or a Honda but the chances of him moving to the Bologna team look remote.

He would be under a lot more media pressure racing for Ducati while Australia's 2007 champion Stoner, likely to stay with the Italian team after it stuck by him through a mystery illness in 2009, would not be an ideal team mate.

Rossi has already said that having a title challenger such as Lorenzo as a team mate is not particularly desirable and it would be better for the best riders to be in separate teams.

What the tifosi really want, of course, is a successful Italian driver in a Ferrari. A move to Formula 1 was close at the end of 2006 and he had a plan to be a test driver in 2007 before racing in 2008.

But Rossi decided to stay in MotoGP and a future switch to Ferrari now looks unlikely, even after the team sounded him out about racing in the 2009 Italian GP.

Italy's best paid sportsman turned down the opportunity and the chance might not come again with Fernando Alonso joining Ferrari in 2010 and Felipe Massa itching to race again after a life-threatening accident.

Yamaha manager Davide Brivio said: "The more years that pass the older he gets for F1. The chances are lessening in my opinion – and we'll do everything we can to keep him."

TESTING FOR FERRARI

Ferrari wanted three cars in 2010 in an attempt to make the sport more exciting - and Rossi was linked with a seat - but F1 officials have largely rejected the proposals.

He has, however, tested for Ferrari in the past and another test as a present for retaining his MotoGP title could follow.

Rossi said: "I have already asked Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali f I can have another test."

A future career in rallying remains a strong possibility for Rossi, who is not as rich as he might have been after having to pay a €35-million (R395-million) Italian tax bill in 2007

He said in April 2009 he wanted 10 years in a car after finishing with bikes and he will drive a Ford Focus in March's Mexico rally. He's especially keen to manage one rally in 2010 before World Rally regulations change in 2011 to cut costs.

But, with so much changing and France's six-times champion Sebastien Loeb still dominating rallying just as Rossi has MotoGP, "The Doctor" seems likely to extend his stint on two wheels. - Reuters