Seven-time world motorcycling champion Valentino Rossi skidded off the track on Tuesday in his first public test with the Ferrari formula-one team.
Rossi, who has expressed interest in moving to formula one, was driving Ferrari’s 2004 car at the Cheste circuit in eastern Spain when, coming out of a curve, he spun off the track and skidded along the gravel.
Tuesday’s tests were to be Rossi’s first in public with other drivers, having previously tested the 2004 model in a private session in Italy.
”It had been raining a lot earlier and the track was very wet. He just spun off,” Ferrari spokesperson Luca Colajanni said.
Uninjured, Rossi stepped from the car and walked back to the pits. The car was towed back to the team’s mechanics, finishing Rossi’s testing for the day.
Colajanni said they expected Rossi to try again on Wednesday.
One of Italy’s most popular sporting figures, the 26-year-old Rossi plans to ride another season in the MotoGP with Yamaha before deciding if he will jump to formula one.
On Tuesday, Ferrari’s seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher tested the team’s 2006 car on the Cheste circuit. — Sapa-AP