www.itv-f1.comJust days after the MotoGP season ended at Valencia, Valentino Rossi has returned to the cockpit of a Ferrari Formula 1 car for another test outing. The Italian superstar completed 40 laps of Fiorano on Wednesday before moving to Mugello for two more days at the wheel of an F2004. As on previous occasions, the test took place behind closed doors and Ferrari didn’t release any official lap times. However, Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport claims that Rossi managed a best time of 57 seconds at Fiorano (1.1s adrift of Michael Schumacher’s record) and a 1m23.2s in the course of a 44-lap run at Mugello (compared to Schumacher’s benchmark of 1m18.7s). Rossi is familiar with Mugello having won the last four MotoGP races at the Tuscan circuit, but it is a much more demanding layout than Fiorano with a number of fast sweeping corners. Sources suggest that Rossi is on a par with Ferrari’s regular drivers in some areas but has yet to fully exploit the downforce of the F1 car in high-speed corners. Rossi has already tested for Ferrari twice this year – on 21 April and 2-3 August – as he and the team continue to assess whether he has what it takes to be competitive in a grand prix car. Although Rossi has repeatedly denied speculation that he is close to agreeing a testing contract with Ferrari, the evidence suggests both parties are keen to pursue the possibility further.
Originally Posted by ^^v
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