Rossi to test Subaru before Rally NZ.

Subaru has told Crash.net that MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi will be testing his Impreza in the UK, prior to his appearance in next month's Rally New Zealand.

Rossi's MotoGP season will conclude at Valencia next Sunday (October 29), where he will be battling Nicky Hayden for his sixth consecutive MotoGP crown. The Italian will then turn his attention to Rally New Zealand, the penultimate round of the 2006 World Rally Championship, taking place from November 17-19, as well as developing Yamaha's new-for-2007 800cc racer.

Although Rossi is treating his rally outing as a hobby - running as an unpaid private entry, separate from the official Subaru World Rally Team - the test, which will take place a couple of weeks before the car is shipped to New Zealand, underlines that the Camel Yamaha star is taking his second ever WRC appearance seriously.

Rossi's first WRC outing, in the 2002 Rally of Great Britain, embarrassingly ended after just 17 kilometres when he beached his Michelin-backed Peugeot 206 in the Welsh forests. However, Rossi has performed admirably during off-season outings in a Subaru, most notably beating former world champion Colin McRae in the asphalt based Monza Rally.

"We are delighted that Valentino is going to compete in Rally New Zealand and of course we're very pleased that he has chosen to do it in a Subaru," a Subaru spokesman told Crash.net. "The car is a 2005 spec (active front and rear diff) Impreza WRC, previously used by Chris Atkinson in Germany. All the arrangements to supply and service his car have been made by Prodrive - not the Subaru World Rally Team."

Rossi, who turned down a Formula One switch earlier this season, takes an eight-point lead over Hayden into next weekend's Valencia title showdown.