Rossi eyes some endurance racing

Valentino Rossi

Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi says he would like to enter the Le Mans 24 Hours in the future and insists he has no regrets over opting not to switch to Formula 1 a decade ago.

Rossi, 37, has taken seven MotoGP titles and his current contract with Yamaha runs until the end of 2018, having penned a new two-year deal early last season.

Rossi has participated competitively on four-wheels, most notably in rally cars, but is eyeing a future outing at the Circuit de La Sarthe.

"It's one goal to try to do the Dakar [Rally] in the future, but it's very, very hard, you have to be well prepared" he said during an interview with Yamaha Managing Director Lin Jarvis.

"For sure [I'd do it] with the car, because with the motorcycle it's really dangerous, we will see.

"But I'm more concentrated on the 24 Hours of Le Mans, it's the first goal, because on the track I feel better, so maybe when I will stop with the bike we can have time."

Rossi was linked to a switch to Formula 1 in 2006 after participating in pre-season testing with Ferrari, but ultimately decided to continue competing in MotoGP.

"I think that it was the right decision, after 2006 I remained in MotoGP and I won another two championships, had great races, great battles, so I don't have any regrets," he commented.

"But I like a lot Formula 1 for sure, I had one moment where I said 'we try, try to understand what [can] happen', so we made some tests, went to Valencia and tested together with the others.

"I remember on the flight back from Valencia to Rimini I said 'no, I'm not ready to stop with motorcycles' and it was the right choice."