“I already said that I love to race with cars, just a little bit less than with a motorcycle,” he said. “I think I will race with cars from from next year. But now, [it] is all in the process… not decided yet.
“I feel that I am a rider or a driver for all lifelong. So, I just change from motorcycle to cars, for sure, not at the same level.
“But you never race for fun, just for fun. If you are a real rider or driver you race for for be strong and for the win for try to have a good result.
“At the moment I don’t know which cars, I don’t know which races. I said that I want to race at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and have a lot of car racing around the world, so I think I can enjoy.”
Rossi finished 12th at Wales Rally GB in 2008
Carl de Souza/AFP via Getty Images
Rossi began his career racing go-karts because his father Graziano thought he would be safer on four wheels, but then shifted to motorcycles, which Rossi said was for the best.
“I always love racing with the cars, because I started with the go kart,” he said. “Graziano was afraid of motorcycle racing because he had a lot a lot of injuries.
“And he thinks that the cars are a bit more safe. So I started with the go kart. And after two or three years with the go kart. I tried the mini bike, and after fortunately I raced with motorcycles. Fortunately, because I didn’t know if the cars, I can achieve the same result, maybe not. So it was it was a good choice.”
In a 2008 Motor Sport interview, Rossi said that he planned to race cars when he retired from motorcycles and, when that moment came, he revealed that he had continued working towards that moment.
“[Cars] remain in my heart,” he said. “And during this career with the motorcycle I always try to improve my skills with with the cars to race — always make some kilometres [to] be ready at this moment.”