As MotoGP star Valentino Rossi confirms that he will take part in the WRC Wales Rally GB next year and will seriously consider a fulltime rally career after motorbikes, he is this weekend being joined by a host of motorsport stars from the past and present during the annual Monza Rally Show.

Rossi recently examined the possibility of switching to the Formula One discipline and he ran a string of tests with Scuderia Ferrari before abandoning the idea earlier this year. The 27 year old former MotoGP Champion told leading Italian sport newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport last week: “Yes, rallying could be my future after bikes. Formula One, as well, could have been within my reach, but I had my chance and made a different choice. Rallying could be a good solution.”

He also confirmed that he would take part in the Wales Rally GB next year which is set to fall soon after the 2007 MotoGP season, where he will ride for the Japanese Yamaha team again, concludes. “In 2007 I will definitely do the Rally GB again at the end of the season. “Rallies have always been one of my great passions and I want to do at least one every year. Then, when I quit bikes, I'll happily [have a career in rallying].” A week ago Rossi took part in the FIA World Rally Championship's Propecia Rally of New Zealand where after a cautious start he set a string of very impressive special stage times to finish 11th overall, at the wheel of a privately-run WRC Subaru Impreza. Meanwhile, Rossi is heading all-star cast taking part in this weekend's Monza Rally Show at the famous historic home circuit of the Italian Grand Prix.
 

He is being joined in the action by a plethora of household sporting names including racer Rinaldo Capello (who is driving a Subaru Impreza WRC on the Monza Rally), former World Rally Championship stars, Didier Auriol (Peugeot 205 WRC) and Markku Alen (Impreza WRC), as well as current day rally drivers Simon Jean-Joseph (Renault Clio S1600), Piero Longhi (Subaru Impreza) and Andrea Dallavilla (Mitsubishi Evo IX).

Other big names involved include Lapo Elkann who is in the co-driver's seat of a Fiat Punto S1600 driven by Rossi's long-time manager Alessio Salucci, while a second Punto S1600 entry is keeping the Rossi 'theme' rolling as it is being driven by Yamaha's MotoGP Team Manager Davide Brivio, who has his brother Roberto alongside. Further 'track' specialists in the event include Luca Filippi, the Italian F3000 Champion, and factory Alfa Romeo pilot Augusto Farfus, who is fresh from securing third place in the 2006 FIA World Touring Car Championship at Macau earlier this month. Another famous name to take part is the legendary French rally driver Jean Ragnotti, who is demonstrating the prowess of the Renault Megane R26.