Grapevine: Rain hits Rossi's second test day

Rossi, who had seriously considered a Formula One switch two years ago, had enquired about the possibility of another Ferrari test after clinching his fifth MotoGP title in October - although he insisted that this time it would be just for fun.

Ferrari obliged with a two-day run at Mugello this week, although he managed little dry running on Friday and could only set a 1:24.04, one and a half seconds slower than his best Thursday time.

He lapped in 1:33.56 in the wet later on, completing 56 laps before stopping when visibility became too poor just before 5pm local time. The Italian also had a brief trip off the track in the wet conditions.

"The test went quite well," said Rossi. "Unfortunately I could just go out for a couple of laps on a dry track in the morning, but we also tried it on the wet track. I was impressed and it went well. The car is fantastic and all in all it was a good test.

"I want to thank the guys from the team and obviously Luca di Montezemolo and Stefano Domenicali, who were really committed over the last two days. I felt like a real Formula One driver."