He was the quickest man on two wheels in MotoGP, now Italian star Valentino Rossi is ready to check his mettle in Australia’s best endurance race at Mount Panorama within the GT3 racing collection.
The seven-time MotoGP champion is more likely to be confirmed as a visitor racer on the Bathurst 12-Hour which returns to the mountain for the primary time because the Covid pandemic.
Since retiring from MotoGP in 2021, the 43-year-old has been testing himself on 4 wheels and this yr examined the brand new BMW’s new M4 GT3 on the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit.
Even at 43, Rossi feels the necessity for pace and has made a change to BMW with an look in Australia at Bathurst probably
Rossi driving the Audi R8 LMS evo II GT3 of Group WRT throughout the Fanatec GT World Problem Europe at Circuit de Barcelona Catalunya
BMW M Motorsport has confirmed that it’ll enter two vehicles within the return of the Bathurst 12-Hour with the M4 GT3 to make its southern hemisphere debut, probably with Rossi behind the wheel of considered one of them.
Whereas no drivers have been confirmed as a part of the BMW announcement, Rossi is anticipated to be amongst BMW’s squad of manufacturing facility drivers for subsequent yr and a favorite to go down beneath.
It units up a mouthwatering endurance race that can see Rossi compete towards not solely the worldwide GT contingent however a powerful area of Aussie V8 Supercars drivers.
Grant Denyer celebrates on the rostrum throughout the 2018 Bathurst 12 Hour Race at Mount Panorama on February 4, 2018
The likes of Bathurst 1000 champion Shane van Gisbergen, Chaz Mostert, Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup are a few of the names to have tackled the Bathurst 12-Hour in recent times.
‘Because the world returns to Mount Panorama in 2023, a two-car manufacturing facility BMW staff is an superior addition to what’s shaping as a world-class area,’ Bathurst 12-Hour occasion director Shane Rudzis mentioned.
‘BMW’s driver roster is remarkably sturdy they usually have one thing very particular deliberate for his or her 12-Hour roster which is able to add much more impression.
‘The BMW M4 GT3 making its Australian racing debut at Mount Panorama will draw lots of consideration and figuring out BMW, we all know they’ll give it every thing to try to win.’
Whereas ‘The Physician’s’ feats in MotoGP have been properly documented, he’s no stranger to racing on 4 wheels both.
The nine-time MotoGP champion made his GT racing debut in 2012 racing in a Ferrari and has additionally examined F1 vehicles in his profession, just lately completed seventeenth within the iconic Spa 24 Hour occasion, sixteenth within the GT World Endurance Problem and has fifth and sixth place finishes on his resume.
‘This yr I raced with the Audi however subsequent yr I shall be within the BMW,’ Rossi instructed Sky about his change of producers.
Rossi and his spouse Francesca Sofia Novello on the purple carpet earlier than throughout the FIM MotoGP Awards Ceremony at Fira de Valencia on November 14, 2021
‘I’ll change into a manufacturing facility driver and I’m very blissful. I’ve already examined the automotive, I’ll stay in the identical staff as final season. We’re solely altering vehicles.
‘I examined it (BMW) after the final race in Barcelona. It’s lovely, very trendy, twin-turbo, greater than the Audi. It appears simpler to drive.’
In response to Andreas Roos, head of BMW M Motorsport, the model is constructing in the direction of a major racing program in 2023.
‘Now we have improved what was already a really sturdy squad of works drivers with Rene Rast, Maxime Martin, Dries Vanthoor and Charles Weerts,’ he mentioned.
‘We additionally welcome BMW M staff WRT as a brand new BMW M Motorsport staff. We face some thrilling sporting challenges in 2023 and the years to return, for which we want the most effective groups and drivers. In spite of everything, the aim is so as to add to the success story of the BMW model in motor racing.’
