Valentino Rossi, the centaur suit hanging in the closet, has experienced certainly exciting moments in his long career even with vehicles of all kinds, starting with the Ape 50 of his apprenticeship at a very young age.
Subsequently, starting in 2002 when he raced in RAC in England at the wheel of a Peugeot 206 WRC, he also dedicated himself to track and dirt races and, of course, road raids with sports cars of all kinds.
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Auto, a passion that will become his second job
The 'doctor' got into rally cars on numerous occasions.
The most famous is the series of victories in the Monza Rally Show, where he dominated the editions of 2006 and 2007 with the Focus RS WRC and those of 2012, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 with the Ford Fiesta RS WRC.
Rossi also competed in 2009 at the Memorial Bettega, which was run during the Motor Show in Bologna, always at the wheel of a Ford Focus WRC prepared by Malcom Wilson's M-Sport.
In 2006 Rossi made another attempt at the World Championship, and finished eleventh in the New Zealand Rally driving a Subaru Impreza WRC.
In 2008 he again starred in a Ford Focus at the Wales Rally, finishing 12th.
Between 2004 and 2008, Rossi's move to the Formula 1 Championship almost came to fruition. This was after several tests on the Fiorano and Mugello tracks at the wheel of a Ferrari and with progressive improvements in timing and driving style. which then positively surprised even Michael Schumacher.
More recently, in December 2019, the 'doctor' tested in Valencia - during a joint test between 'world champions' - the single-seater Mercedes AMG F1 W08 EQ Power + (season 2017) used by Lewis Hamilton, while the latter a in turn he rode on the track with Rossi's Yamaha YZR-M1. A few days later he participated in a Ferrari 488 GT3 of the Kessel Racing team, together with his younger brother Luca Marini and his friend Alessio 'Uccio' Salucci in the Gulf 12 Hours endurance race in Bahrain, winning in the Pro / Am category and ranking third overall.
It is therefore logical that in all these years in Valentino Rossi's garage jewels with four wheels of all kinds have alternated, with a particular predilection for Ferraris (including a yellow 488 Italia) and for BMW M3 and M5. And his VR46 brand has even become the characterizing element of a limited series created in 2018 by Ford Europe in collaboration with MS-RT Van-Sporte dedicated to the Transit Cusotm and Ranger models, to which a video on YouTube is dedicated (https: //www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMdzH_iFPXU). You can see the luxurious van transformed into a living room and garage for motorcycles arriving at Valentino's ranch, with a flaming Yamaha in the load compartment and the powerful pick-up with a 3.2 turbodiesel engine of 200 Hp and 470 Nm of torque 'skidding' on the gravel in perfect Rossi style.
Only 920 specimens designed and modified in collaboration with the 'doctor' - who through the rallies has a long history of 'friendship' with Ford - who personally took care of the qualifying details, including the kit supplied to the lucky customers with a Valentino Rossi cap and a VR46 custom key.
