Rossi indulges four-wheeled fantasy in the rain, fog and mud of Wales

Four-times world motorcycling champion makes rallying debut in tomorrow's Great Britain event

The grunts and groans shattered the tranquillity of the Ligurian mountains with ever-increasing intensity but Valentino Rossi managed to suppress any natural impulse to take the bends on two wheels.

Motorcycling's equivalent of Michael Schumacher has exchanged his usual machine for a Peugeot rally car to begin preparations for an event that will test his competitive appetite and versatility as never before.

Rossi, having won a fourth world championship in his familiar environment, intends to amuse himself by competing in the Rally of Great Britain, which starts in Cardiff tomorrow. Even Colin McRae, regarded as one of the sport's more cavalier champions, has suggested to the Italian that his sanity must be called into question.

However, in an era when sporting superstars are at a premium, Peugeot and Michelin have leapt at the opportunity to give Rossi, a 23-year-old with the instincts of a genius and the antics of a showman, the equipment to indulge his fantasy.

As McRae knows only too well, drivers on the British round of the world rally championship could encounter rain, mud, fog, snow and ice, all in one weekend. A warm autumnal sun welcomed Rossi to his gravel practice stage here.

Every aspect of this surreal scene was far removed from the potentially hostile environment awaiting Rossi in south Wales. The HF Grifone team had pitched up on a grassy clearing, next to a tiny chapel. Half the population of the local village had climbed the rough, rutted track, creating the ambience of a country fair. A battalion of police officers had presumably convinced their superiors they were required for duty. Once here, they were preoccupied with posing for personal photographs with their young national idol.

Rossi, partnered by the experienced navigator, Carlo Cassina, went out on a gentle recce in his blue and yellow car, which is a customer specification version of the 206 driven by the world champion, Marcus Gronholm, and the Englishman he deposed, Richard Burns.

Satisfied he had understood the stage, Rossi proceeded to increase the pace and the sense of occasion. After three more blasts along the twisting road, he jumped from the cockpit wearing the grin we have seen 50 times from the top of the podium at motorcycle grands prix.

"It was good fun," he said. "I have done a little rallying before, but not with a car like this. It is like a real rally. It is difficult to understand your limit, and that is what I have to find.

"When you close the door of the car you feel safer than on a bike. On the first run I could see the trees but by the second I was seeing the track. We used simple pace notes and they help with my concentration. I felt more confidence the longer I drove and started to slide the car. But I didn't go on two wheels!"

"It's a completely different sport to motorcycle racing. With a car, it's much easier. You have four wheels, a roll cage and seat belts. So, if you make mistake, it's easier than with a bike. To go 100 per cent, however, is very difficult. Especially understanding the braking point in a car. With a bike, the braking point is very much earlier."

Rossi, who was born in the medieval Appennine town of Urbino and now has a home in London, began racing in karts and, like all Italian youngsters, dreamed of reaching Formula One. But he switched to bikes, falling into his niche, and, although he is due to have a run in a BAR-Honda grand prix car, he has no ambition to emulate the feat of John Surtees and become world champion on four wheels as well as two.

Just like Schumacher in Formula One, Rossi has dominated this year's championship yet maintains "boring" is not in the bike racing vocabulary. He said: "I don't like Formula One very much. If you take away Schumacher, then maybe Jacques Villeneuve and Juan Pablo Montoya, they're all the same. The cars have so much technology the drivers don't have to do anything. Even if I win many races, I still have to fight and we have overtaking and excitement.

"I have no plans to stop racing in Moto GP. Maybe in four or five years I will look at something else."

Rossi's commitments in Moto Grand Prix – formerly 500cc – ruled out involvement in an earlier and perhaps less daunting rally than the British event, and he may be grateful for the advice McRae is offering. "I have spoken to Colin about the rally and he told me it is not a good idea to have my first world championship rally in Britain. But he said that if I want to go with him on a test I can do so."

Racing in the dark is also new to Rossi. "I've raced once at night, in a bike endurance event, and I didn't particularly enjoy that. I'm not a big fan of driving at night."

Rossi, famed for his fancy dress and other bizarre stunts at the end of races, contends he has no wacky celebrations planned for Cardiff.

"The biggest worry for me is to make a mistake right at the beginning," he said. "That would be bad for me when Peugeot and Michelin and so many other people have put so much into this.

"First of all I want to get to the end if I can. In what position, I don't know. The first 15 are from another planet and I don't know about the others.

"I want to enjoy it but to do that I have to stay in the rally, so perhaps I can go faster as we go along. There is a lot I have to understand."