MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi signs up to race at Mount Panorama – but WON’T be riding a motorbike

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 sequence.

The seven-time MotoGP champion is probably going to be confirmed as a visitor racer at the Bathurst 12-Hour which returns to the mountain for the primary time because the Covid pandemic.

 Since retiring from MotoGP in 2021, the 43-12 months-previous has been testing himself on 4 wheels and this 12 months examined the brand new BMW’s new M4 GT3 at the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit.

Even at 43, Rossi feels the necessity for velocity and has made a swap to BMW with an look in Australia at Bathurst seemingly

Rossi driving the Audi R8 LMS evo II GT3 of Team WRT through the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe at Circuit de Barcelona Catalunya

BMW M Motorsport has confirmed that it’s going to enter two vehicles within the return of the Bathurst 12-Hour with the M4 GT3 to make its southern hemisphere debut, seemingly with Rossi behind the wheel of one in every of them.

While no drivers had been confirmed as a part of the BMW announcement, Rossi is predicted to be amongst BMW’s squad of manufacturing unit drivers for subsequent 12 months and a favorite to head down beneath.

It units up a mouthwatering endurance race that can see Rossi compete in opposition to not solely the worldwide GT contingent but a sturdy discipline of Aussie V8 Supercars drivers.

Grant Denyer celebrates on the rostrum through 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 among the names to have tackled the Bathurst 12-Hour in recent times.

‘As the world returns to Mount Panorama in 2023, a two-automotive manufacturing unit BMW group is an superior addition to what’s shaping as a world-class discipline,’ Bathurst 12-Hour occasion director Shane Rudzis stated.

‘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 a lot of consideration and understanding BMW, we all know they are going to give it every little thing to try to win.’

While ‘The Doctor’s’ feats in MotoGP have been nicely documented, he’s no stranger to racing on 4 wheels both.

The 9-time MotoGP champion made his GT racing debut in 2012 racing in a Ferrari and has additionally examined F1 vehicles in his profession, lately completed seventeenth within the iconic Spa 24 Hour occasion, sixteenth within the GT World Endurance Challenge and has fifth and sixth place finishes on his resume.  

‘This 12 months I raced with the Audi but subsequent 12 months I’ll be within the BMW,’ Rossi informed Sky about his swap of producers.

Rossi and his spouse Francesca Sofia Novello on the purple carpet earlier than through the FIM MotoGP Awards Ceremony at Fira de Valencia on November 14, 2021

‘I’ll turn into a manufacturing unit driver and I’m very completely satisfied. I’ve already examined the automotive, I’ll stay in the identical group as final season. We are solely altering vehicles.

‘I examined it (BMW) after the final race in Barcelona. It is gorgeous, very trendy, twin-turbo, larger than the Audi. It appears simpler to drive.’

According to Andreas Roos, head of BMW M Motorsport, the model is constructing in the direction of a vital racing program in 2023.

‘We have improved what was already a very sturdy squad of works drivers with Rene Rast, Maxime Martin, Dries Vanthoor and Charles Weerts,’ he stated.

‘We additionally welcome BMW M group WRT as a new BMW M Motorsport group. We are dealing with some thrilling sporting challenges in 2023 and the years to come, for which we’d like the perfect groups and drivers. After all, the objective is to add to the success story of the BMW model in motor racing.’