MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi to compete in endurance championship

PARIS – Retired Italian MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi, who has switched from two wheels to four, is excited to “race globally” again as he will compete in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) next season.

According to the list of participants published on Nov 27, the seven-time MotoGP world champion will race with the Belgian WRT team, one of nine teams who will be fielding 18 cars in the LMGT3 class, which replaces the LMGTE Am category.

Rossi, 44, is also expected to take part in the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance classic on June 15-16.

He had a taste of it by winning a support race at the iconic Sarthe circuit in France in 2023 in a BMW for the WRT team.

The Belgian outfit, co-founded by former racing driver Vincent Vosse, will participate in the Hypercar class in 2024 with two BMW M Hybrid V8s and in the LMGT3 with two M4 GT3 cars.

“I am very excited to compete in the FIA WEC. It is the next step for me to participate in a world championship, not only in Europe but to race globally again,” Rossi said.

“I have already become familiar with the car after this season, but the format with three drivers from three different performance categories will be new for me.”

The identity of the two other drivers for his car is not yet known.

Meanwhile, Poland’s Robert Kubica is on the list of participants in the premier Hypercar class.

The former Formula One driver, crowned 2023 world champion in the lower LMP2 category, will be in a private Ferrari.

German driver Mick Schumacher, son of Formula One legend Michael, will make his endurance debut in his premier category with Alpine.

In total, 14 manufacturers will participate in the championship – including nine in Hypercar – a record in the history of the WEC.

Separately, MotoGP has dropped the Aprilia-affiliated CryptoDATA satellite team from the 2024 championship for repeated breaches of the participation agreement.

It said in a statement the decision had been taken by the MotoGP selection committee that includes representatives of the governing FIM, teams organisation IRTA and rights holders Dorna.

“The selection committee will be reviewing applications for a new independent team, using Aprilia machinery, to join the MotoGP class grid for 2024,” it added.

No details were given of the “repeated infractions and breaches”.

The CryptoDATA RNF team were founded in 2021 by Malaysia’s former Sepang circuit boss Razlan Razali after sponsor Petronas withdrew from the previous race-winning Yamaha Sepang outfit.

They competed in 2023 with Aprilia bikes and Portuguese rider Miguel Oliveira and Spaniard Raul Fernandez.

Razali, a 40 per cent shareholder with Romania’s blockchain firm CryptoDATA owning the rest, announced before last weekend’s season-ending race in Valencia that he was leaving.

The Race website reported that Nascar’s Trackhouse Racing team – co-owned by rapper Pitbull – were expected to take over the grid spots for next season.

They will be using Aprilia’s bikes and personnel. AFP, REUTERS