MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi admits he nonetheless goals of racing a hypercar within the World Endurance Championship, however concedes his probabilities of doing so look slim within the brief time period.
Rossi has made no secret of his need to compete in prototype equipment, believing it higher fits his driving model than the GT3 vehicles he has been racing since his retirement from MotoGP in 2021.
The Italian received an opportunity to pattern the BMW M Hybrid V8 finally 12 months’s Bahrain rookie take a look at, the place he ended up only a tenth off the tempo set by Charles Leclerc’s youthful brother Arthur in a Ferrari 499P.
Nonetheless, that promising outing didn’t end in extra alternatives within the prime class, with Rossi remaining within the WEC’s LMGT3 class for a second season in 2025.
The 46-year-old revealed that he spent your entire 12 months engaged on a possible Hypercar programme for 2026, however admitted these plans are but to materialise.
“The hypercar is extra much like a bike [than a GT3] – and I get pleasure from [driving] it,” Rossi mentioned in Bahrain. “So from that second [in the Bahrain test], we tried to race within the hypercar this 12 months, but it surely was not potential.
“All throughout this season, we tried to race within the hypercar for subsequent 12 months, however sadly, it was not potential. It seems prefer it’s troublesome to race within the hypercar. I do not know if it can occur – it is a disgrace.”
#20 BMW M Group WRT BMW M Hybrid V8: Valentino Rossi
Photograph by: Shameem Fahath
Requested if it could be potential for him to contest particular person races in Hypercar, if a full-season marketing campaign is off the desk, Rossi mentioned: “It may be a good suggestion, however I do not know if it is potential, as a result of normally should you race with a hypercar, it is for the entire season.
“BMW has lots of drivers, lots of youthful drivers. And it is a disgrace, as a result of I really feel good with the automotive, and it may be attention-grabbing to race there. However I do not know if it can occur subsequent 12 months. Anyway, I am additionally open for some races.”
Since switching to automotive racing full-time, Rossi has raced solely with Vincent Vosse’s WRT workforce. The Belgian squad already serves as BMW’s manufacturing facility associate within the Hypercar class and can increase its programme subsequent 12 months to tackle the working of the German producer’s parallel effort in IMSA’s GTP class.
Rossi mentioned this might open a door for him to contest chosen IMSA rounds, significantly the longer Michelin Endurance Cup occasions that require extra drivers. “It may be an opportunity, as a result of the WRT subsequent 12 months can even handle the IMSA [programme]. So perhaps it may be potential. I do not know, I hope,” he mentioned.
Nonetheless, Rossi dominated out the prospect of getting into subsequent 12 months’s IMSA season-opener at Daytona, the place BMW usually runs 4 drivers in every GTP automotive as an alternative of the same old two.
“Daytona can be on the record, as a result of it is an awesome 24 hours [race],” he mentioned. “I believe for subsequent 12 months, it is going to be troublesome, as a result of January is already right here. However perhaps sooner or later.”
2026 plans unsure
Rossi joined the WEC full-time following the collection’ introduction of the LMGT3 ruleset in 2024 and devoted all his efforts on the championship this 12 months after bowing out of GT World Problem Europe.
Over the 16 WEC races he contested throughout the 2 seasons, he scored 4 podium finishes in his class – and got here near profitable this 12 months’s Imola 6 Hours within the #46 BMW M4 GT3 he shared with Kelvin van der Linde and Ahmad Al Harthy.
Rossi’s three-year deal as a manufacturing facility BMW driver expires on the finish of this 12 months, and whereas a contract renewal is predicted, it stays unclear which championship he’ll contest in 2026.
“We nonetheless do not know what we’ll do, which championship,” mentioned Rossi. “The WEC may be, for certain, an choice We are going to see with BMW within the subsequent month. We are going to attempt to determine what’s the finest programme.”
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