There’s a new Dr in endurance racing town, his name is Valentino Rossi. 49 years old Italian motorcycle racer won two world championships in 125 and 250 cc before winning seven world championships in 500 cc and four-stroke MotoGP in a 26-year professional career. However, retiring at the end of the 2021 season does not mean quitting the race. The man nicknamed The Doctor announced he’s campaigning for an entire season of GT World Challenge Europe with Belgian W Racing Team (WRT). His weapon will come with two additional wheels and is one of the best in the field, like his Yamaha M1 before – the Audi r8 LMS GT3. WRT has won the GT World Challenge, formerly known as the Blancpain GT Series, four times in the past eight years. Rossi will be one of two drivers trying to make the score five times nine. WRT has yet to announce who will collaborate with the man from Urbino.
Rossi wrote in a social media post, “I am delighted to be joining Team WRT for the entire Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by the AWS program. Everyone knows that I have always been a racing fan. great bike and I’ve always been interested in four-wheel racing after my MotoGP career is over.Now I can fully devote myself to a racing program at a high level and with a continued approach. Team WRT was the perfect fit I was looking for and I can’t wait to start this new adventure in the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS with them.”
He’s not just a fan auto racing. Among other moves, he experimented Ferrari’s Formula 2006 first car that year in three days in spain, finishing with the best time less than half a second Michael Schumacher’s best time. Also in 2006, he finished 11th out of 39 appearances in the New Zealand Rally. In 2008, he had another Ferrari test. In 2012, he drove a Ferrari at two laps of the Blancpain Endurance Series, then tested by Kyle Busch NASCAR rig at Charlotte Motor Speedway the following year. Followed by more revs in the single-seat and hardtop. His latest and most practical experiment started with a few days of development work last December in Audi he will be piloting this year.
The 2022 GT World Challenge season begins with testing on March 8 at Circuit Paul Ricard in France. The first part of the season’s ten races, five sprints and five endurance events including the 24 Hours of Spa, takes place in Rossi’s hometown of Imola on April 1. That’s when we’ll see. What can Vale Yellow #46 do on the side of a V10 instead of the YZR-M1’s one-litre four-cylinder.
