MotoGP Champion Valentino Rossi To Test BMW WEC Prototype

Saajan Jogia | Sep 21, 2024

August 26, 2012; Brno, CZECH REPUBLIC; MotoGP rider Valentino Rossi (ITA) looks on prior to the Czech Republic Grand Prix at Automotodrom Brno. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-Imagn Images / Matt Kartozian-Imagn Images

MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi is set to test a prototype World Endurance Championship (WEC) car in Bahrain next month, where he will get behind the wheel of the BMW LMDh machine. This will mark his first experience driving the WRT-run BMW Hybrid V8.

Rossi will be absent from Misano this weekend, where he would typically support his VR46 Academy riders at the Emilia Romagna GP, as he participates in the Monza round of the GT World Challenge Europe (GTWCE). The Italian is competing in both the WEC and GTWCE in 2024 and indicated in May that he plans to continue this dual campaign next year.

After his MotoGP retirement in 2021, Rossi shifted to car racing, competing in the 2022 GT World Challenge Europe with WRT in an Audi before transitioning to BMW for 2023. He celebrated his first victory in the Sprint Cup GTWCE at Misano.

The 45-year-old racer had his initial experience with prototype WEC machinery when he tested WRT’s Oreca 07 LMP2 car during the Bahrain rookie test last year. In 2024, he made his debut in the World Endurance Championship with WRT, competing in the LMGT3 class.

Thus far, Rossi teamed with Ahmad Al Harthy and Maxime Martin, has achieved two podium finishes in the WEC, taking second at Imola and third at Fuji last weekend. The season will conclude with the Bahrain finale in November, marking the last round, followed by the former rider's test in an LMDh car. Speaking to It.motorsport.com on the exciting opportunity, Rossi said:

“So, the next goal is to see what the M Hybrid V8 is like.

“And then who knows, maybe in the future there will be a place in Hypercar. Let’s see.”

Despite his four-wheeled racing endeavors, the seven-time MotoGP champion remains deeply engaged in the premier class of motorcycle racing as the owner of his MotoGP team, VR46 Racing Team. Recently, he has taken aim at Gresini rider Marc Marquez, with whom he had a fierce rivalry during the 2015 MotoGP season. Rossi has labeled Marquez the "dirtiest" rider in MotoGP, especially as Marquez prepares to ride for Ducati's factory team next year. He told the media:

“Marquez is a very strong rider, a champion.

“He has always been quite rude, very aggressive, but in 2015 he crossed the line.

“If you are bad sportsman or aggressive you can be borderline dirty and I could give so many examples. But no one, among the big stars of motorsport, has ever fought to make another driver lose, that is what draws the line.

“Usually those who did certain things did it for themselves, they were dirty to gain their own advantage, because they wanted to win.

“Nobody has been as dirty as him.”