It was not clear for a long time how Valentino Rossi’s four-wheeled career would progress. At the beginning of the year, BMW announced the driving program of the racing icon from Tavulli: It continues in the WEC and for
There has been a lot of speculation lately about Rossi’s whereabouts in the WEC. This was triggered again at the end of 2024 when no BMW with starting number #46 could be found when the provisional start list was announced. But that has now been fixed. Because according to BMW, Rossi/van der Linde/Al Harthy car with starting number 46.
In addition, after testing with the Munich hypercar, Rossi was associated with the last type of sports car – but it remains so – all the seats are occupied by the athlete from Tavullia, who has become a father for the second time, it focuses again on the category M4 racing of LMGT3. There is no confusion even in the third year of involvement with the factory.
“I am very happy to continue my journey in the FIA WEC because we had a good first season last year. There were good races including two podiums. Now we want to try to be stronger and faster. We will cooperate with BMW M Motorsport improve our performance and be more competitive in every race,” says Rossi.
Rossi, who will turn 46 shortly before the start of the season, continued: “It’s good to be riding again on the beautiful tracks that I know so well from my motorcycle days. For me, that’s what makes the FIA WEC so interesting.
The World Sportscar Championship (FIA WEC) starts on February 28. The first event is held in Qatar. Valentino Rossi will also be there again. The Italian drives the new BMW M4 GT3 Evo and shares the cockpit with Kelvin van der Linde and Ahmad Al Harthy. Van der Linde will be new to the BMW squad in 2025. Al Harthy was already “Il Dottore’s” teammate in the FIA WEC in 2024.
Rossi has been a works driver for BMW since 2023. He previously competed in Audi in 2022. With BMW he finally stepped into the FIA WEC in 2024. Although he did not manage to win a single class there, Rossi still managed to put himself in a good position and the position of sixth in the overall standings of the LMGT3 class.
However, Valentino Rossi will not compete for the overall victory in the FIA WEC. This is restricted from faster cars. The BMW M4 GT3 Evo competes in the LMGT3 class. Cars from nine brands Aston Martin, BMW, Corvette, Ferrari, Ford, Lexus, McLaren, Mercedes-AMG and Porsche drive there.
