Valencia: Seven-time world MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi has bounced back from his shaky start to Formula One testing.
Test driving for Ferrari at Valencia, he finished ninth in the field of fifteen drivers. Rossi had slid off the track on his first day of testing, but drove smoothly this time around.
He finished with a lap time of 1min 12.856 seconds to beat the likes of David Coulthard and Jarno Trulli. World champion Fernando Alonso was quickest, while Michael Schumacher finished second.
Media reports have been linking the Moto GP champion to Formula One since the last one year.
On Wednesday he stepped out in his new capacity as an official Ferrari F1 test driver alongside team leader Michael Schumacher and amongst most of the major Formula One drivers on the same track, the Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia, Spain.
Schumacher covered a total of 71 laps, setting the third quickest time of the day at 1.11.814.
Rossi was faster than a number of established F1 stars on the day, including Red Bull’s David Coulthard, Williams’ Mark Webber and Toyota’s Jarno Trulli.
Rossi has been linked to a move to Formula One in 2007, with his Yamaha MotoGP contract expiring at the end of 2006. This article looks at the parallel careers of Rossi and the only person to have won both the F1 and MotoGP championship - John Surtees.
(With Agency inputs)
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