Valentino Rossi Will Drive Ferrari in the 6 Hours of Vallelunga

Valentino Rossi will indeed rejoin Ferrari in some forms of motor racing, only not Formula One. Although the MotoGP champion is likely to make another appearance in a Ferrari-prepared single seater next year, in January, the Italian will first get behind the wheel of a Ferrari 430-class for the 6 Hour race of Vallelunga, Italy.

The 9-time MotoGP champion will therefore make his debut in endurance racing alongside Ferrari, as confirmed by a report from Italy's Gazzetta dello Sport. The car which he's about to drive next week on the circuit north of Rome will be prepared by GT3-Kessel Racing, a team run by former F1 driver Loris Kessel.

As this will be the first time Rossi will attend such an event as a competitor, he will be joined in the Ferrari-powered team by two very close friends: Italians Alessio Salucci and Andrea Ceccato. The two have previously competed in the Italian GT Championship and the GT Open.

Now that the MotoGP season has already ended and he has secured the title he needed to enter the history books of motorcycle racing, Rossi wants to experience as many motor racing activities as possible in order to figure out where he will continue once he'll retire from the series. Through the past season, Rossi has consistently hinted that he is inclined to look for challenges outside the MotoGP, with rallying, NASCAR and F1 being top of the list.

Until then, it seems the Scuderia has already agreed to a private testing session with Valentino Rossi in January next year, only nothing has been yet confirmed by the team's principal Stefano Domenicali. Most likely, Rossi will drive the F60 around the Fiorano track for a few days, before heading back to his Yamaha garage for the 2010 season preparations.