In the early 1980s, the Marlboro British F3 Championship was reckoned the most desirable to be in. The top three in the series received a run in a Marlboro McLaren. I attended some of these sessions and they were proper tests, but 25 years ago that meant three mechanics and a stopwatch.
Ferrari recently arranged test sessions for Valentino Rossi and, today, that is a different matter—big money is involved. Rossi showed sufficient promise to have several sessions, but he decided to stick to motorcycles where he is sensational.
