After retiring from MotoGP at the end of 2021, Valentino Rossi moved to four wheels, where he has been making a career that is always progressing. This year he is competing for the first time in an FIA World Championship – the World Endurance Championship (WEC). He does so with Vincent Vosse’s WRT, which is linked to BMW in the new LMGT3 category.
Il Dottore spoke to the championship’s website about the choice of GT3 cars: ‘I always wanted to compete with cars. During my motorcycle career, I tried to understand where, because I also like rallies for example. But I realized over the years that the right place is GT3: because it’s a good car, it’s fast, the lap time is similar to MotoGP, and you have fun driving‘.
As for the team, Rossi revealed that WRT was the one that convinced him the most: ‘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‘.
The Italian is linked to BMW through the team he is part of, in a partnership that he admitted is important: ‘It’s crucial. I drive the car, but I’m not a factory driver. When Vincent told me about the possibility of 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 supported by the factory team. This is a great motivation to grow and give my best‘.
