With the end of his MotoGP career now just ten days away, Valentino R♑ossi began preparations for his future as a racing car driver with a sportscar test at Misano yesterday.

"Now it's two races in a row, so it's ten days. Imagine ten days compared to 26 years! It's nothing," Ros𒉰si said of his remaining time in MotoGP, consisting of back-to-back events at Portimao and Valencia𒅌.

"It's a very emotional moment, sincerely, and I want to try to 𓄧stay concentrated to give the maximum to the end of the season.

"This for me is very important because in Misano my race was not too bad and I want to try to give 🐎the maximum and remain concentrated, not think a lot about what happens on the Monday after Val🍷encia!

"I'm still a rider and I want to give the maximum and try to enjoy th🧔ese la🦩st two races.

"Here in April, the weekend was difficult but in the 💛race I was quit🐬e fast, I was in the top ten but unfortunately I crashed. So we need to make the maximum and try to be competitive to fight for the top ten."

Just before flying to this weekend's penultimate round, the Italian was on track in a Kessel Ferrari alongside brother Luca Marini and VR46's Uccio Salucci to prepare for their annual winter appearanc♍e in the Gulf 12 h𓄧ours.

But this time the preparations are more serious, marking the start of Rossi's four-wheel 'career', with the nine-time world cham🍨pion confirming he will then enter at least one of the major sportscar championships in 2022.

"𒅌I t☂ried the Ferrari yesterday in Misano because we will race in Abu Dhabi in January with Luca and Uccio," Rossi confirmed. "This is the race that we always do in the last three years and in general it's just for fun.

"But we did a test – unfortunately the weather was not fantastiꦰc – but we enjoy a lot. I was not so bad. I feel good. And next year I become a car driver! So from now the approach [to car racing] and the effort is different.

"But this [Gulf 12 Hours] race is still for fun and after we need to understand which championship and ♏which program for next year."

"Sincerely Val🃏e was really fast, really strong," Marini said of the test. "In other tests I was closer to him. Yesterday he was pushing a lot in conditions with some wet spots. He was able ♈to give one second to me. He was really fast, pushed the car at the limit. I was a bit more worried about this. I didn’t want to do any damage.

"Also Uccio in wet he was strong. In dry he had less🅷 time to improve his lap time. But he had a good test also. We were close. I was one second from Vale and Uccio 1.5-2s from me.

"But with the car it’s more difficult to talk about time. The balance of performance can 𓃲change a lot as the tyres become worn."

Rossi added that the decision on which GT championship he enters after the Gulf 12 Hou🎶rs is yet to be made, but he also seems to have one eye on the prestigious new Hypercar class for 𝓡2023.

"It's a very important moment for the GT races and Endurance races because they will do this new class that is called Hypercar and for 2023 all the big names in cars, the factories, also Ferrari, Porsche, Audi wil🎃l race with these cars," Rossi explained.

"Next years I will race with GT cars. I still don’t kno🐲w which championship because it can be the WEC but can be also European Le Mans series or International GT chal🅺lenge.

"We need to decide, also with which car, and I need to understand also my level a🍰nd my speed because for sure I would like to race with LMP2 or with Hypercar [prototypes] but there the level of the drivers is very high. So I don't know if I am fast enough. We will try t🌊o understand next year."

Petronas Yamaha rider Ro🀅ssi and rookie Marini are currently locked in a battle to avoid being last of the full time riders in the MotoGP world championship standings, the pair currently separated by just two points, with Marini in front.

🅷Marini will continue to race for Rossi's VR46 team as it graduates to a fu♐ll MotoGP entry next season.