Rossi set to enter Rally GB again

The multiple MotoGP champion contested Rally GB in 2002 and also competed in Rally New Zealand in 2006. He had planned to enter Rally GB last year, but had to back out at the request of his Yamaha team.

But Rossi's father, Graziano, a former bike racer himself, has confirmed that the 29-year-old will be back in a WRC car at the end of the year.

Rossi will again contest the Monza Rally, which he won last year, in a Ford Focus run by British team Ramsport, as a warm-up to this year's WRC finale.

"We'll be at Monza and we'll also be on Rally GB," he said in this week's Autosport. "It's not sure which car we'll have (for Rally GB), it could be the Ford - which, in my opinion, is the proven package for us.

"But Valentino might also drive a Subaru or Citroen, at the moment nothing is out of the question. There are some negotiations going on at the moment so it would be premature to say anything more."

Rossi will be targeting a top ten finish following his 11th place in New Zealand in 2006.

Fellow MotoGP racer Loris Capirossi will also make a one-off rally outing this year, contesting the final round of the British Rally Championship in Novemeber in a Suzuki Swift Cup car.