Valentino Rossi will compete in the 2024 season with Team WRT in a BMW M4 GT3 in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) and thus in the 24 Hours of Le Mans
MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi will compete in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) in 2024. The nine-time motorcycle world champion, who has been a full-time GT3 racer since 2022, will drive a BMW M4 GT3 fielded by Team WRT.
“I’m really looking forward to competing in the FIA WEC. It’s the next step for me to compete in a world championship and not just in Europe, but worldwide again,” says the 44-year-old, who will start the race in the legendary 46.
“I already know the car well after this season, but the format with three drivers from three different performance categories will be new for me. Overall, I think we will be very well positioned,” he continues.
It has not yet been decided who his team-mates will be. The only thing that is certain is that it will not be his previous partner Augusto Farfus. The Brazilian has been confirmed for the other BMW M4 GT3. Rossi’s other team-mate in the GT World Challenge (GTWC) Europe in 2023 was Maxime Martin. Only one full professional is allowed in the LMGT3 class, with an amateur with an FIA bronze rating at the wheel as the third driver.
WRT Team Principal Vincent Vosse adds: “Starting in the FIA WEC with Valentino Rossi is something very special. We already talked about this at our very first meetings. Now we’ve come full circle and it feels like we’ve already ticked off most of the points we discussed back then. “
Rossi’s Le Mans partner as rival
Since the GT3 class was approved for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Rossi has had the WEC on his radar. In 2023, he took part in the “Road to Le Mans” support race together with Jerome Policand and won the second race in the GT3 class.
An unusual combination, as Policand is team principal of the rival ASP team, which has maintained a healthy rivalry with WRT in the GT World Challenge (GTWC) Europe for years. ASP is now also competing in the WEC. The team will enter two Lexus RC F GT3s with the support of Toyota and will therefore be Rossi’s direct opponent.
As expected, WRT will also support the LMGT3 project in the 2024 WEC in addition to its hypercar involvement. “Although we have two separate teams for the two projects, this will be a big challenge for WRT. But we love challenges,” says Vosse, who will continue with his large team in GTWC Europe.
The extent to which Valentino Rossi will be involved in the GTWC project is still open. He already declared at the GTWC Europe race in Hockenheim that he will continue to compete in Stephane Ratel’s racing series in 2024. However, it is still unclear to what extent.
What is certain is that he will compete in the 24 Hours of Spa. What his program will look like beyond that remains to be seen. There is no overlap between the GTWC and WEC in 2024, but a full double program would mean several back-to-back races and a “triple header” with sometimes awkward time zone changes
LMGT3 with nine manufacturers
A total of 18 cars from nine different manufacturers are entered in the LMGT3 class, which replaces the LMGTE Am. The GTE cars were retired after 13 years at the 2023 Bahrain 8 Hours.
As expected, BMW will be up against Ferrari, Porsche, Chevrolet, Aston Martin, Lamborghini, Ford, McLaren and Lexus. Audi and Mercedes-AMG are looking down the tubes.
There are no big surprises in the fielding teams, just some creative team names. For example, the Porsche 911 GT3 R entered by Manthey will compete under the names “Manthey EMA” and “Manthey Pure Rxcing”. The name Pure Rxcing goes back to Alexander Malichin, who has been competing under this name in various series for around a year now.
The Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo with the names “Heart of Racing Team” and “D’station Racing” will be entered directly by Aston Martin Racing, i.e. Prodrive.
Iron Lynx is once again fielding the “Iron Dames”. Sarah Bovy, who was to be upgraded from the bronze to the silver category by the FIA, now retains her bronze rating so that the project can continue
