He smashes Qatar record after flirting with Ferrari in Spain (ANSA) - Losail, February 8 - After flirting last week with a Ferrari Formula 1 car in Spain, MotoGP champ Valentino Rossi was back on two wheels here in Qatar this week clocking the fastest times in tests with his Yamaha .

After official tests in Valencia with Ferrari, where he proved he was a quick learner when it came to speed, Rossi joined the other MotoGP riders here for three days of pre-season trials and immediately set the pace for the upcoming season, which starts March 5 with the Catalunya Grand Prix in Barcelona .



Before leaving Spain, Rossi said testing against 'real' Formula 1 drivers was "great, really interesting. But now I'm going back to motorcycles, which are my priority for this year" .

True to his word, the 26-year-old ace arrived here a day late but took no time in smashing the track record, set last year by Ducati rider Loris Capirossi when he clinched pole for the Qatar Grand Prix .

Rossi's teammate Colin Edwards also ran well, coming in second on each of three days and also breaking Capirossi's time .

After setting record lap times, Rossi and Edwards spent most of the final day of tests trying out various Michelin tires MotoGP teams and riders will reunite February 14 in Sepang, Malaysia, for a final three days of tests before the season starts .

Pundits believe that Rossi, who has won seven world titles in motorcycling, has little left to prove on two wheels and is attracted by the challenge of successfully making a switch to four wheels .

The only person who has ever done this is Britain's John Surtees, who won four world motorcycling titles before switching to cars in 1960. In 1964, at the age of 30, he won a world title driving a Ferrari .

Italian sports fans - along with sponsors and marketing people - are thrilled by the idea that Rossi might try to be the first Italian driver to win a title in a Ferrari since Alberto Ascari in 1953 .