Valentino Rossi to race Lawson, Rainey and Roberts

Italian icon Valentino Rossi will race fellow Yamaha MotoGP world champion’s Eddie Lawson, Wayne Rainey and Kenny Roberts in a special karting clash at the Laguna Seca GP in early July.

The 30-year-old Italian confirmed his participation in the one-off demo event on the eve of his home race in Mugello this weekend.   

The legendary quartet will dice it out driving Yamaha TZ250 super karts on the Thursday afternoon before the American GP, which Rossi won for the first time in 2008 after a classic scrap with Ducati rival Casey Stoner. 

Between them Rossi, Lawson, Rainey and Roberts have won 17 MotoGP world titles and Rossi said he was looking forward to the prospect of racing with the American stars. Lawson and Rainey have raced karts competitively since retiring on two wheels and four-times world 500cc champion Lawson is certainly slouch behind the wheel of a kart.

He has lapped Laguna Seca in a 1.23.924 in a kart prepped by Rainey’s father Sandy, which is just over two seconds slower than Aussie Stoner’s best MotoGP lap at the California circuit.

Rossi, who still drives karts for fun near his Tavullia home, said: “I’m quite fast but I don’t know if I am at the same level as Eddie. I have some good experience with karts so I’m confident to be competitive. But I don’t know, I think I’ll try just two laps to try the kart without a lot of fighting. It’s Friday or Saturday before the race, so I go slower because I have to race on Sunday.  Sometimes at home I go with my friend in karts with the gearbox so I have some experience.  I think the karts in America will be 250 which are very fast, I use a 125cc two-stroke.”

Rossi’s love affair with motorsport began in karting before he’d even started school. He was a highly rated young karting star before deciding to follow his father Graziano into bike racing.

It was a decision that’s paid off handsomely, with Rossi winning 98 world championship races in the most successful premier class in history.