A one-off partnership with Tom Sykes and Ben Spies at the Qatar World Superbike round for Valentino Rossi had been planned but a lack parts for the new R1 put paid to the idea.

As revealed by bikesportnews.com some weeks ago, Rossi's Fiat Yamaha MotoGP squad were excited by the idea of their number one rider hooking up with the Yamaha Italia team for a one-off appearance at the desert race – but there weren't enough parts to ensure success.

However, team boss Davide Brivio hasn't yet ruled out the idea. "We were very excited at the idea of riding in a Superbike race. Valentino influenced us with his desire for new challenges and experiences," said Brivio.

"The idea of going to Qatar and racing in Superbike was very exciting. We’d have done it with great respect and with the idea to have fun, this was our attitude. Valentino belongs to the MotoGP Championship, but he would have tried Superbike just to test himself against those riders, whom he always follows them because they, too, are very good.

"Unfortunately this wasn’t possible because Yamaha is working on the new R1 motorbike, and there are not many spare parts available yet. Setting up the bike for Valentino was technically impossible.

"Furthermore, because he is Valentino Rossi, we wanted to do things well and eventually we had to come to the conslusion that this wasn’t going to be possible. Valentino was very sad when we had to cancel this experience, but we might consider it again in the future.

"I believe he could be competitive, but we didn’t intend to win the race. We’d have gone with the idea of doing our best to see what level we could reach in one race. It would have been interesting, like a challenge of the past. I hope we consider it again in the future, I will keep dreaming of it."