MotoGP champion and international superstar Valentino Rossi kept getting better and better throughout the three days of the Propecia Rally New Zealand, which saw him behind the wheel of a World Rally Car in a World Championship event for the first time since the 2002 Wales Rally GB.

On the eve of the rally, Rossi said that the FIA World Rally Championship could become the focus of his career when he retires from motorcycle racing. Speaking at the pre-event press conference, ‘The Doctor’ said that he has always enjoyed rallying and it is something he could move into. “Rally is my great passion after motorcycling, because my father also did a lot with rally after he finished with bikes,” the Italian said. “I have passion for this sport. I want to understand a real WRC rally and to understand the future when I stop bike racing. I need to know if I like it and if I have good potential for the future.”

Rossi has already tested a Ferrari Formula 1 car with great success and recently drove a Mercedes DTM car, impressing bosses in the process. He said at the conference that he found it much easier to go quickly on the circuit, as it was easier to find the limits of the car, whereas on a rally stage, they are much harder to establish. Rossi has competed at the Monza rallysprint several times, using a Subaru Impreza WRC. However, while he has achieved success in the past, he was quick to point out that competing on the flowing New Zealand stages was a completely different kettle of fish: “It is a completely new world. I make Monza for five or six years now. I am fast but it is not the rally on the track.”

Rossi tested his 2005-specification Subaru Impreza WRC, the very car Chris Atkinson used in Germany earlier this year, for two days in Wales prior to travelling to ‘The Land of the Long White Cloud’. Speaking at the shakedown on Thursday, Rossi noted that, “The real test is tomorrow (Friday) to make some kilometres with the car and understand the car. The first target is to have fun and arrive at the finish. The pace notes are good, the recce is good and I have spent a lot of time with (co-driver) Carlo Cassina. I must start slow and get better.”
 

He also said that the current cars are very different from the Peugeot 206 WRC he drove in Rally GB in 2002. “In Wales, the feeling was worse because of the mud. Much has changed with the cars since 2002; gearbox, brakes – the way to control the car is much better now.” Friday saw Rossi drive with extreme caution, because the Italian, who had only completed one FIA World Rally Championship stage prior to this event, did not want to have a repeat performance of his last outing in the World Championship, which ended when he slid off the road into a ditch halfway through the rally’s second stage. Some thought it amazing that Rossi completed the difficult and lengthy first day in New Zealand, but no-one was surprised by his position, well off the pace and behind many FIA Production car World Rally Championship drivers. It was not until the second leg where Rossi began to show just how quickly he could learn the techniques required to master rally.

A surprise to many, Rossi began a slow climb up the leaderboard, but it was not until the final stage of the second leg, the Mystery Creek superspecial, where Rossi let it all hang out.  Rossi posted a top-six time on the stage and even bested former World Champion Petter Solberg. The third leg saw much of the same for Rossi, with the Italian growing more confident with each passing stage.  Although he did not complete Propecia Rally New Zealand with a top-eight finish (he finished 11th overall), he did manage to lay the groundwork for a potential career in rally. It remains to be seen when and where Rossi will again appear behind the wheel of a World Rally Car in competition, but if this weekend was any indication of his potential, the sport may have another superstar in the waiting.

Report: WRC