Rossi second at Monza Rally Show

Seven-time MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi finished second at the Monza Rally Show at the weekend, driving a Ford Focus RS WRC.

The Italian, and his co-driver Carlo Cassina, won the event in 2006 and looked on course to notch up a second victory before a spin dropped them behind the eventual winner, factory Audi driver Rinaldo Capello, in a Citroen C4 WRC.

Double world rally champions Marcus Gronholm and co-driver Timo Rautiainen finished fourth in a Subaru Impreza World Rally Car.

Rossi, 30, is a long-time supporter of the Monza event, which his first tackled in 1995 after he won the 125cc world championship. A keen rally fan, Rossi has since tackled three WRC rallies alongside Cassina, with his best result coming on Rally New Zealand in 2006, where he finished 11th in a Subaru Impreza WRC.

Rossi is expected to make a fourth WRC appearance on next year's Rally Mexico.

The Leon-based March event runs before his MotoGP seasons starts - and the Italian is thought most likely to return to a Ford Focus RS WRC, following the positive links he developed while finishing 12th on last year’s Rally GB.