Seven-time MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi may stop the World Endurance Championship to concentrate on the GT World Problem Europe as he seems to be to downscale his racing in 2025.
The BMW manufacturing unit driver has defined to Motorsport.com that he’s planning to chop again on the variety of races he contests from this 12 months’s 16 occasions primarily for household causes, which embody the upcoming start of his second youngster.
This represents a shift in his place from earlier in 2024, when he outlined a need to proceed racing with the WRT crew in each WEC and the Endurance Cup leg of the GTWCE for a second season.
“I realised that 16 races is just too many and I’m in the identical scenario as in MotoGP,” mentioned the 45-year-old Italian, who can be going into his fourth full season of automotive racing after his retirement from two wheels.
“I’m drained and my accomplice, Francesca, will get indignant as a result of I’m all the time on the highway.
“For 2025 my purpose is to run 10 to 11 races: I should determine whether or not to do GTWCE or WEC.
“One is a world championship, so profitable the title has particular status, however within the Stephane Ratel Organisation races [GTWCE] the racing is absolutely good with solely GT3 vehicles.”
#46 Crew WRT BMW M4 LMGT3: Ahmad Al Harthy, Valentino Rossi, Maxime Martin, #31 Crew WRT BMW M4 LMGT3: Darren Leung, Sean Gelael, Augusto Farfus
Photograph by: Andreas Beil
Rossi’s expression of a need to cut back his racing actions isn’t new, however he had beforehand described the 13 races of a programme combining WEC and the long-distance GTWCE occasions as “a very good quantity”.
He revealed on the identical time that he was unlikely to contest the Bathurst 12 Hours spherical of the Intercontinental GT Problem in February 2025 as he has completed for the previous two seasons as a result of it would battle along with his forty sixth birthday. It will likely be a major celebration, he identified, as a result of his race quantity all through his MotoGP profession was #46.
Now he has mentioned that his 2025 season “will begin in Bathurst”.
WRT boss Vincent Vosse clarified Rossi’s place to Motorsport.com: “Vale needs to cut back his variety of races and the one approach to try this is to do only one championship.
“It’s a choice that needs to be taken: does he do WEC or GTWCE? It’s one thing that’s up within the air and actually isn’t clear in the mean time.
“There are lots of elements, and one is the BMW’s efficiency within the WEC, which hasn’t been what we have been anticipating, and one other is Valentino’s FIA driver categorisation.”
Rossi was downgraded from gold to silver standing for this 12 months, paving the best way for his transfer into the WEC in LMGT3, the place every automotive should run a bronze and a second non-professional who’s normally a silver.
#46 Crew WRT, BMW M4 GT3: Raffaele Marciello, Maxime Martin, Valentino Rossi
Photograph by: SRO
Requested whether or not a GTWCE marketing campaign may develop to incorporate the 5 occasions of the Dash Cup through which Rossi is a two-time race winner, Vosse replied: “That’s all a part of the dialogue and we don’t have a transparent feeling but.”
With the addition of the WEC to his programme this 12 months, Rossi contested solely two of the Dash weekends, at Manufacturers Hatch courtesy of his love for the circuit and his residence race at Misano.
Rossi has unilaterally introduced that he can be driving BMW’s M Hybrid V8 Hypercar class contender on the WEC rookie take a look at in Bahrain on 3 November.
BMW and WRT have but to substantiate the date of his promised run within the LMDh, although have clarified that it is going to be earlier than the top of the 12 months.
Vosse mentioned: “It seems to be like he’ll drive the prototype earlier than the top of the 12 months as we mentioned, and the perfect alternative for that appears just like the rookie take a look at.”
Rossi harassed that racing the LMDh sooner or later “isn’t the purpose I’ve set” however hinted at a need to race within the prime class of the WEC.
“I’d like to race in Hypercar as a result of it’s the MotoGP of prototypes,” he mentioned. “Possibly sooner or later there can be a spot in Hypercar – let’s see.”
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