Valentino Rossi’s long and successful MotoGP career ended in 2021, but that didn’t mean he retired from the tracks. He moved to car racing, first in the GT World Challenge Europe and now in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) – making his debut in an FIA World Championship this year. He is part of Vincent Vosse’s WRT team, driving a BMW.
In an interview on the WEC’s YouTube channel, the legendary Italian explained why he chose GT3 cars: ‘I always wanted to compete with cars. During my motorcycle career, I tried to understand where, because I also like rallying for example. But over the years I realized that the right place is GT3: because it’s a good car, it’s fast, the lap times are similar to MotoGP, and you have fun driving it’.
His team since entering car racing has been WRT, and Rossi explained the reason for this choice: ‘I talked more or less with all the manufacturers, but Vincent was the one who convinced me the most, because he came to Tavullia and basically talked about racing, not about public relations. Vincent had a program, he said, “We do this, this, in this way”, and I am very happy to choose WRT’.
Regarding the collaboration with BMW, which started in 2023, Il Dottore commented: ‘It’s crucial. I drive the car, but I’m not a factory driver. When Vincent told me about the possibility with BMW, I was very happy because I really like BMW, I have always had BMWs for the past 20 years. And especially I feel much more involved, much more support from the factory team. This is a great motivation to grow and give my best’.
