As the new Fiat Punto 'Super2000' rally car continues to make waves in Frankfurt, the tug of war between Fiat and Ferrari for MotoGP star Valentino Rossi's services continues to twist and turn. Fiat presented the new Grande Punto in public for the first time last Wednesday at the Frankfurt IAA, in Germany, and, as the model quickly rolls onto the market, 'open days' are already being held at Fiat dealerships across Italy. Star of the Grande Punto line-up in Frankfurt though - and in fact star of the whole Fiat collection - is the new rally version, which has been design to conform to the FIA's proposed new 'Super2000' regulations. These rules will build on the existing, successful, 'Super1600' category, but boost engine size to two litres, while at the same time keeping costs tightly under control.

Mounted at the centre of the Fiat stand at the German Motor Show, inclined on a jutting platform, the Grande Punto rally car shouts its intentions to passing visitors. This is a car that will seek to emulate the rallying exploits of its predecessors, such as the Fiat 131 Abarth, a car that is truly a part of rallying legend. Fiat are seeking to build on this tradition and so this car unashamedly revives the famous 'Abarth' branding, with the name emblazoned across the windshield and the evocative logo mounted on the front wings.

VALENTINO ROSSI LINKED WITH FIAT'S RALLY PROJECT ONCE MORE

The Italian bike star failed to clinch his fifth consecutive MotoGP top-class title yesterday when he crashed out of the Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi, but he will have the opportunity to seal it this coming weekend in the Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang. The title is pretty much a formality as Rossi has 261 championship points, while his nearest rival, Max Biagi, is well adrift, on 149 points. As this year's titles chase winds to a conclusion, attention focuses on Rossi's longer-term future.

Fiat's brand promotion boss Lapo Elkann seems certain that Rossi will - at least - test the new Fiat 'Super2000' rally car prototype, in comments he made late last week. "I think it is an opportunity for us the fact that Valentino Rossi comes to test our car, and certainly he will be able to make suggestions on how to improve it, how to improve the engine's performance, the car's race trim," said Elkann.
 

"Valentino is a person who I respect and I think that this feeling is shared by every Italian. Rossi is a person who wins everything, he wins triumphantly and wins with a smile. The head of the rally team has already worked with Valentino, they know each other and respect each other. For my part there is passion for what he does, because I love the Motorbike Grand Prix, I love two wheels as well as four," he added.

ROSSI DENIES FERRARI F1 TEST PROGRAMME

Meanwhile, Rossi has dismissed out of hand comments made by Ferrari's Ross Brawn at Monza last month that the MotoGP rider will be out testing for the Scuderia every month or so next year. “When I hear this interview from Ross Brawn, for me it’s very funny because I don’t know anything about it," Rossi told the motorbike media in Japan over the weekend.

“For me, is a lot of bullshit because if I have already decided on another year in MotoGP for sure," he continued. "And for sure if I do another year it’s to try to win, so I think it’s already a big effort to try for the championship. And anyway it’s the main event for me. I don’t have time to do a lot of tests for the car. And especially at this point, I haven’t made my decision. So at the end of the day this is the most important thing. I haven’t decided whether to go to cars. Maybe yes, but maybe no. Speaking already about tests for me is like speaking about 10 years in the future.

"I don’t know what I doing next week, I certainly don’t know about what I’ll be doing in two years’ time. I think a lot about my future, for sure,” he added. But, seriously, I haven’t decided what’s happening. Because this tactic has always worked for me in the past, I always think about next month, not two years’ time," he concluded.