Valentino Rossi finishes second overall in Monza Rally Show

Taking part in his acknowledged “other” motor racing passion besides motorcycles, Valentino Rossi once again proved his machine-handling skills extend well into the four-wheeled arena by finishing a close second overall in the Monza Rally Show (an annual invitational rally event held at the historic Monza racing circuit in Italy) to eight-time World Rally Champion Sebastien Loeb. Driving a WRC-spec Ford Fiesta RS with co-driver Carlo Cassina, Rossi actually beat Loeb in two of the rally’s stages, no small feat considering Loeb’s impressive driving credentials and the fact that Rossi had limited experience in the car. “Beating his majesty Sebastien Loeb in a Monza Rally stage is pretty awesome...doing it twice is priceless! The Rally di Monza is a great event, with lots of fans and some great drifting," wrote Rossi on Twitter. The Italian ended up finishing 24.2 seconds behind Loeb, with endurance racing driver Rinaldo “Dindo” Capello another 28.5 seconds behind.

The two multi-world champions faced off again in the special “Master Show” finale stage, which has been renamed the “Marco Simoncelli Trophy” in honor of the fallen MotoGP star. In the round-robin elimination-style event, Rossi defeated friends Alessio “Uccio” Salucci and Davide Brivio to advance to the final against Loeb. Rossi gave it his all, but unfortunately stalled his car’s engine in a turn, costing him the win.

This isn’t the first time Rossi has demonstrated his four-wheeled skills. The Italian was given the opportunity to drive a Ferrari F1 car during a three-day F1 test at Valencia in 2006, where he ended up just a half-second behind Michael Schumacher (who stated that Rossi was talented enough to join F1 immediately and be competitive). He also has competed in the several WRC rallies over the years, and has previously won the Monza Rally Show three times. He was given another chance to drive a Ferrari F1 car in a two-day private test at Catalunya, where Rossi ended up only three-tenths of a second off the track’s outright lap record.

Besides friend/confidante Uccio and personal manager (and former Yamaha MotoGP team manager) Brivio, other motorcycle luminaries in the 2011 Monza Rally Show included Andrea Dovisioso, Claudio Corti, and Andrea Iannone.