Rossi wins with Ford at Monza Rally Show.
Published: 26 Nov 07
VALENTINO Rossi won last weekend's Monza Rally Show, a special end of season event that combines rally excitement on a Formula One track.
Rossi was driving a Ford Focus WRC car, the same one he won the event in last year. And like last year, heavy rain made the conditions tough, by reducing visibility and traction on the course. Alex Perico took the event's lead early on, but Rossi remained fast and consistent, winning with over a 30-second advantage over second-place Subaru driver, Piero Longhi.
Rossi will switch back to business this week, when he visits Jerez where he'll test his Yamaha with Bridgestone tyres for the first time.
from rossifiles.com
Valentino Rossi has added to his growing rallying credentials by taking victory in the Monza Rally - then declared that winning feels the same on two or four wheels.
Rossi, who recently drove a privately entered 2005-spec Subaru Impreza to 11th overall in Rally New Zealand, took his first Monza Rally victory in a Ford Focus WRC - and also won the ‘Master Show’ competition, which uses a head-to-head knockout format, for the second year in succession.
Although far from a ‘full’ rally - the Monza event uses parts of the famous Italian racetrack and its access roads to create seven asphalt stages - it attracts top drivers and machines.
Last year, Rossi finished second overall behind former Le Mans winner Rinaldo Capello, but ahead of former World Rally Champion Colin McRae. This year, Rossi won five of the seven stages to beat Monza specialist Capello by a solid 24 seconds and claim his first official rally victory, and outpaced former World Rally Champion Didier Auriol by seven seconds in the head-to-head Master Show final.
Valentino Rossi (ita) - Carlo Cassina (ita) subaru impreza wrc" border="0">
Valentino Rossi
came through to take his second successive victory at the Monza Rally Show at the weekend.The former five-times MotoGP world champion, who fractured his hand earlier this month, drove a Pirelli-shod Ford Focus World Rally Car at the end-of-season asphalt event.
Alex Perico had set the early pace for Peugeot, but Rossi took the lead halfway through the first leg and was able to build a 33-second advantage over Subaru's Piero Longhi by the finish - despite treacherous weather conditions producing standing water on many parts of the track.
Pirelli rally manager, Mario Isola was delighted with the result: "Our consecutive wins at the Monza Rally Show should be seen in the light of the fact that we operate two separate lines of development for our rally tyres: those to be used on the WRC – of which we will be the exclusive supplier next year – and those used on non-WRC events, which are no less important to us.
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Valentino Rossi (ita) - Carlo Cassina (ita) subaru impreza wrc" border="0">"Thanks to our know-how and the experience we have developed from every event, we are able to supply competitive tyres to all our drivers using Pirelli PZero rubber on rallies.
"We have also proved our ability to hand-cut these tyres precisely, as we did for many drivers at Monza including Rossi and [Luca] Cantamessa [who took the Group N win], in order to suit variables such as the car, road surface and weather conditions."
Valentino Rossi (ita) - Carlo Cassina (ita) subaru impreza wrc" border="0">
Valentino Rossi (ita) - Carlo Cassina (ita) subaru impreza wrc" border="0">For the record, Rossi had been in talks to do this coming weekend's Wales Rally GB, the final round in the 2007 FIA World Rally Championship, which runs from November 30 to December 2, however in the end the Italian opted not to take part.
To date, Rossi has done two WRC events, and last year he impressed on the Rally New Zealand, finishing eleventh overall, just 18.8 seconds off a place in the top ten in a Subaru Impreza WRC car.
Valentino Rossi (ita) - Carlo Cassina (ita) subaru impreza wrc" border="0">
Valentino Rossi (ita) - Carlo Cassina (ita) subaru impreza wrc" border="0">The result was in stark contrast to how he did on his first WRC outing in 2002, when he crashed out on the Rally GB in his Michelin-backed Peugeot 206 WRC just 17 kilometres into the event.
Rossi meanwhile will be back on two wheels this week, during testing at Jerez, when he is due to ride with Bridgestone tyres for the first time.
Valentino Rossi (ita) - Carlo Cassina (ita) subaru impreza wrc" border="0">
Valentino Rossi (ita) - Carlo Cassina (ita) subaru impreza wrc" border="0">
Valentino Rossi (ita) - Carlo Cassina (ita) subaru impreza wrc" border="0">
Valentino Rossi (ita) - Carlo Cassina (ita) subaru impreza wrc" border="0">Monza Rally Show 2005 - Valentino Rossi
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Monza rally show 2006 - Valentino Rossi in action
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