Rossi beats McRae at Monza Rally.

[TALAL]

MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi finished his first competitive outing in a Subaru WRC car with an impressive second overall - ahead of former World Rally Champion Colin McRae - at this weekend's Monza Rally Show.

Although far from a 'full' rally - the event uses parts of the famous Italian racetrack and its access roads to create asphalt stages - the event attracted top drivers and machines, with Rossi and his Subaru facing a two-pronged attack from the Skoda WRC entry of McRae and former Le Mans winner Rinaldo Capello.

Rossi would finish 5.6secs down on overall winner Capello by the end of the event, with McRae a further 43secs back. The rally consisted of a 13.75km 'junior' stage and a 26.75km 'grand prix' stage, both of which were used repeatedly to give a total of seven stages. Of those, Rossi would win four and Capello three.

However, Rossi would go on to beat current DTM driver Capello in Sunday's 'Master's Show' semi final - a form of knockout superspecial competition that ends the rally - putting him in a straight head-to-head battle with McRae in the final. The Factory Yamaha rider would then win the 'Master's Show' final by 1.4secs over the Scotsman.

Rossi plans to make further outings in the Subaru, which are expected to include a further 'exhibition' event at the Bologna Motorshow and then perhaps a snow or gravel rally in between his MotoGP pre-season testing commitments.