Valentino Rossi (middle) will make his racing debut at the wheel of a Prancing Horse car this weekend, driving a specially-liveried GT3 class Ferrari 430 Scuderia (top) in this weekend's 6 Ore di Vallelunga entered by regular FIA GT3 Championship outfit Loris Kessel Racing (bottom).

Valentino Rossi will make his racing debut at the wheel of a Prancing Horse car this weekend, driving a GT3 class Ferrari 430 Scuderia in this weekend's 6 Ore di Vallelunga entered by the Swiss outfit Loris Kessel Racing. The 30-year-old Italian two-wheel race clinched the MotoGP World Championship title for the seventh time (his ninth motorbike world title) just under a month ago at the Malaysian Grand Prix, and he will line up in the GT3 class Maranello sports car on Sunday morning at the "Piero Taruffi" circuit near Rome. The 430 Scuderia, painted in a special black-and-yellow livery for the occasion will of course carry Rossi's famous number 46, and he will be joined in the cockpit by his friend Alessio 'Uccio' Salucci, and another fellow Italian, sports car racer Andrea Ceccato.

Rossi, who has dabbled with four wheels on and off during the MotoGP close season in recent years has mostly focused on rallying, and he will be out once again this winter on the rally tracks. On the race circuits he has tested several times for Ferrari during the last three years and another private test is planned for next January as rumours continues to persist over a switch to F1 when he ends his two-wheel career. This will be his first experience of racing sports cars in anger although he has tested a privately-owned GT1 class Maserati MC12.

The top-end of the field for the 6 Ore di Vallelunga this year features a pair of Lola-Judd sports-prototypes for the Piccini brothers, Giacomo and Andrea, and a second machine crewed by Thomas Biagi, Filippo Francioni and Edoardo Piscopo; the Norma-Honda of Romagnoli, Romanini and Visconti; the GT2 class Ferrari 430 GT of Cadei, Aguas, Bruni, Cioci and Perazzini; the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR of Borghi and Mastronardi; two further Ferrari 430 Scuderia GT3s from Loris Kessel alongside the Rossi-led car and the brand-new GT4 class Maserati GranTurismo MC which will be piloted by the newly-crowned FIA GT Champion Andrea Bertolini. Also of note will be the appearance of Red Bull F1 designer Adrian Newey who will be driving a BMW M3 in the "tourism" category.

The 19th running of the 6 Ore di Vallelunga, which is promoted by Gruppo Peroni, will get underway with an hour's free practice session tomorrow morning, followed by an hour-long qualifying session just after lunchtime. The six-hour race will get underway at 09:30 on Sunday morning with the chequered flag set to be waved at 15:30. The Fiat 500 1.2-litre racers that contest the Five Hundred Cup will be in supporting action.