SIMONCELLI TRIES FOUR WHEELS IN UK

Taking tips from WRC star Hirvonen, who was fresh from his victory in Rally Australia, Simoncelli ran the Ford Fiesta RS WRC for 50km around the twisting track. Simoncelli is no stranger to Rally driving - he took part in the Monza Rally Show in 2010 and finished 16th overall, the highest placed MotoGP rider in the competition.

Following the test, both Simoncelli and Castrol Honda World Superbike rider Jonathan Rea were taken for passenger rides on the test forest stage at the Ford World Rally team's M-Sport headquarters with Mikko Hirvonen behind the wheel. The two then went behind the scenes at the world-class facility at Dovenby Hall to learn about the set-up of the Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team.

"It's an honour to be invited by Castrol to drive a car like this," Simoncelli said after the new experience.
"It took me a little while to get used to it but it's incredibly well balanced once you get the feel of the controls. It's always useful to share race experience and technical knowledge with other drivers and riders and I've learned a lot today from Mikko and the team."

For his part, Hirvonen was impressed with Simoncelli's ability in the car.
"It's great fun when Castrol allows us to meet other riders and drivers," the Finn said.
"Marco obviously has some serious talent. Considering it was his first time with this car, he put in some very impressive times. Maybe there's a future for him in the WRC after MotoGP!"