It’s no secret that Valentino Rossi is a handy exponent of four wheels as well as two. The internet is awash with clips of the nine-time Motorcycle Grand Prix World Champion displaying his skill behind the wheel – usually of something with a rallying flavour to it – but at the Festival of Speed the great man realised his dream of driving the very Mazda 787B that won at LeMans in 1990.
So keen was the Italian to pilot the screaming Mazda up the hallowed hillclimb course that his team got in touch with our colleagues in the Goodwood Competitions Department before the event and requested that he be allowed to indulge himself in a little four-rotor fun. Naturally, we obliged and the already-delirious crowd was treated to the spectacle of two mutually-exclusive legends of motorsport uniting over 1.16 miles of West Sussex tarmac.
Judging from what we can see of Mr Rossi’s eyes through the slot in his crash helmet, we’d say that he enjoyed the experience.
Perhaps we should invite him back next year for a fast run in something?
