Valentino Rossi Rides The Yamaha

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Valentino Rossi had his first laps on the factory Yamaha today at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit in Valencia, Spain, with the first official test of the year for the MotoGP men hampered by wet conditions. And Yamaha has just announced they are packing up and heading to Motorland Circuit in Aragon, Spain, in search of better weather. They will test there tomorrow.

With lap times mostly meaningless, Rossi's best thus far is a 1:43.736, which puts him fifth. The fastest time of the day has been set by Alvaro Bautista, but the Spaniard did his 1:35.936 early when conditions were dry.

Nicky Hayden is seventh with his best lap, like Rossi's, also coming in the wet conditions.

Not everyone has taken to the track with Moto2 World Champion Marc Marquez opting to wait for drier weather before making his debut on the ex-Casey Stoner Honda RC213V. The Honda team has a private test scheduled for later in the month at Sepang in Malaysia. Bradley Smith, the other MotoGP rookie, has also stayed in the garage thus far. Smith will ride the Monster Energy Tech 3 Yamaha vacated by Andrea Dovizisio, the Italian making his factory Ducati debut today.

Five-time World Champion Mick Doohan is convinced Valentino Rossi still has a lot to offer in MotoGP.

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Nine-times Champion Rossi is coming off a disappointing 2013 season where he finished third in the standings behind Marc Marques, Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa.

While his Yamaha team-mate Lorenzo won eight races despite battling injury midway through the season, the Italian's victory at Assen was his only one of the campaign. It has naturally led to question marks over his future not only at Yamaha, especially with his contract running out at the end of 2014, but also in MotoGP.

Doohan is confident Rossi can return to the front if he gets the right machinery, but he concede that the 34-year-old is probably no longer prepared to push himself too hard.

"He can't like not winning although the sport needs him and he has still got as many fans as ever. The sport will be a poorer place without him. I'm sure fourth is not good enough in Valentino's mind, but it is a hell of a lot better than where he was last year," Doohan told motorcyclenews.com.

"I think his experience is against him in terms of how far he is prepared to push himself and how long he wants to stay in the sport. But you never doubt Valentino. I have no doubt if they could get the bike to exactly his liking he could push more but he knows if he pushes any further he will go down the road.

"Valentino's experience though may mean he is not prepared to push as hard as those top three guys. They are still in the 'want and need' part of their careers rather than in the 'it would be great to do that again' part of their careers."

Valentino Rossi Promises Roma Captain Motorcycle Ride If He Delivers Scudetto

Italian motorcycling hero Valentino Rossi has given Roma legendFrancesco Totti extra motivation to win the league title by promising to take him on his bike if he can do it.

The nine time MotoGP world champion, and a well-known fan of Serie A giants Inter, reached out to Totti when giving an interview about football in which he also spokes about the fortunes of his beloved Nerazzurri.

Speaking to Sky Italia, Rossi said: “Totti is great and always continues to make the difference for his team, he is like [Roger] Federer in tennis. He gives confidence and inspiration to all of my generation.

“Should he win the Scudetto this season then I will I would definitely invite him to take a ride with me.

“Inter? I think the new owner must prove he is the right man for the Nerazzurri,” continued Rossi. “I hope Thohir will bring in the money to again become a great side.

“I liked him straight away as he seems kind and smart so we will see. It would be nice for him to sign a top player like [Lionel] Messi.”

Lorenzo and Rossi poised for Sepang challenge

Jorge Lorenzo heads to Sepang with the knowledge that he collected his first premier class world title at the Malaysian circuit in 2010. On this occasion, the task is to out-score championship leader Marc Marquez by as many points as possible.

With four Grands Prix remaining and a maximum of 100 points left on offer, newcomer Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) heads reigning World Champion Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing) by 39 points. With a difference of five between first and second positions (25 and 20 points, respectively), Lorenzo is aware that he must aim for victories while hoping that his chief rival runs into trouble.

"Now we start the big trip, with three races in a row, and face the last part of the championship - the crucial part," Lorenzo acknowledges ahead of back-to-back races in Malaysia, Australia and Japan.

"After Aragón, where we fought so hard, we now visit a special circuit. Sepang is a track everybody knows really well. I guess all the riders will be strong there because we did a couple of pre-season tests. Sepang is a long and technical circuit with two great straights but also some nice corners. The worst thing is it’s always stormy and you never know when it is going to rain.

"I have some good memories there but we need to keep focus now on the race and try to recover a little bit to Marquez. The championship is difficult, but we want to fight until the end. Let’s see what happens!"

Lorenzo could be assisted by former arch rival and Yamaha teammate Valentino Rossi, who has won at Sepang on no less than six occasions since 2001.

"The Sepang circuit is a track that I like a lot - I have had many great victories there," begins the Italian, who last time out at MotorLand Aragón picked up his fifth rostrum finish of the 2013 campaign.

"I think it suits the Yamaha quite well. It's very demanding physically, because it’s very hot, but it's also a great track and challenge because of that. I want to try to have a good weekend and work hard on the setup in order to be competitive in the race."

For Constructors’ honours ahead of the Shell Advance Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix, Yamaha trails Honda by 26 points, whereas Yamaha Factory Racing is second in the Teams’ standings and 73 points in arrears of Repsol Honda Team.

Rossi out to help Lorenzo in Valencia

Valentino Rossi stresses that he will be trying his upmost to assist Jorge Lorenzo at this weekend’s Gran Premio Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana, as his Yamaha Factory Racing teammate vies for the title against Repsol Honda Team’s Marc Marquez.

Following consecutive race victories at Phillip Island and Twin Ring Motegi, Lorenzo sits second in the riders’ standings and the reduced margin of 13 points behind Marquez. Lorenzo may have been a chief rival of Rossi’s in past seasons, but the Italian insists that he will be doing all he can to help the Spaniard on this occasion.

"Usually Valencia is not one of my best tracks but I have had some good podiums there and some wins," Rossi begins. "As always, we have to try and do the maximum for the weekend. If I am strong enough, I want to try and help Jorge as much as possible on Sunday and also to be on the podium."

2013 marks the first time since 2006 that MotoGP™ has witnessed a last-race title decider; it was Yamaha versus Honda on that occasion as well, as Rossi lost out to American Nicky Hayden.

Sky form Moto3™ team

From the start of next year, Valentino Rossi will be working alongside Sky Italia - the Italian MotoGP™ broadcaster from 2014 - in order to nurture new talents in the Moto3™ category of the World Championship.

Starting with 2014, Rossi will contribute towards a project which will focus on propelling the careers of young riders on international circuits. This comes after a deal was struck between Sky and VR46, the company owned by the nine-time World Champion.

The team, of which Sky will be the principal sponsor, will race with KTM machinery and has already forwarded an official entry application to MotoGP™ governing body the FIM and commercial rights holder Dorna Sports in order to participate in the Moto3™ class.

Romano Fenati will be a rider as he continues his quest of attempting to climb to the top of the World Championship. "We have joined forces with Sky in order to give the Italian riders the opportunity to be competitive and reach the highest levels," says Rossi.

Earlier this year, it was announced that Sky Italia had acquired television rights to the FIM MotoGP™ World Championship starting with the 2014 season, offering coverage across all Sky platforms including FTA TV, pay TV, internet, mobile and Sky Go.

The Doctor's Hobbies.

Pershing 56 yacht

Valentino Rossi recently purchased a Pershing 56 luxury yacht. The MotoGP superstar traded his 50 foot yacht called Titilla, also a Pershing, to buy the new Pershing 56. He has named his latest purchase Titilla II that is 18 meters in length and has six berths. Rossi’s impressive toy boasts two engines that combine to produce a mammoth 1300 hp.

His fondness for Italian football club International.

Unlike Rossi's personal life his fondness for Italian football club Internazionale is not a secret. And Rossi admits it. After winning his ninth World title in October 2009, Inter congratulated Rossi on their official website.

Ferrari 458 Italia

Valentino Rossi was gifted a fly yellow colored Ferrari 458 Italia by iconic race car maker Ferrari on April 2012 in recognition of his sporting achievements. The multiple MotoGP World Champions race car’s license plate displays “046VR”, which matches Rossi’s bike number plate along with his initials. Valentino was photographed taking his Ferrari out on a test drive on the Monza racing track in Italy. The Ferrari packs in a formidable reputation as a speed demon and can go from zero to 100 km/hour in just 3.5 seconds. The $250,000 car can reach a top speed of 325 km/hour.

BMW M3 Sedan

After securing his record ninth MotoGP title, Valentino Rossi has proved that he is the fastest man on two wheels. And BMW has acknowledged the Italian's speed by awarding him a spanking new M3 sedan. Also BMW gave him a rare opportunity to test drive the new hardcore M3 GTS about which Rossi seems to be super excited.

Rossi Pets

Rossi now has two new dogs (one male and one female), named Cesare and Cecilia.

British bulldog named Guido, which he had from 2000 until 2008.