With the racing and testing over for the year, the riders need to finds new ways to challenge themselves. For this reason, Valentino Rossi decided to launch a Twitter challenge, asking followers to top his best performance on the Playstation.
The Doctor's message read: "I'm issuing a challenge: Gran Turismo 5. Nurburgrïng. Driving the Zonda R. A lap time of 6.14.211. Can anyone beat that?" He then added some further details: "Simulation mode, not driver aids except traction control at level 5. With the steering wheel."
It didn't take long for the responses to start pouring in, most notably from his real life rival Jorge Lorenzo. The Spaniard's reply contained the sarcastic message, "That was your warm up lap, right?", followed by a picture proving his best lap was a full 16 seconds quicker than Rossi!
Valentino sportingly recognized the Yamaha rider's superiority, saying: “5.58.2 Jorge? Nice lap. I have to practice!”
Considering how little racing actually took place on track last season, it only makes sense that the rivalry would move on to the virtual realm. And knowing how competitive both can be, this is probably only the start.