Rossi Opens Up on Reasons for WEC Exit, GT3 Ambitions

Valentino Rossi has offered a more detailed explanation of his decision to walk away from the FIA World Endurance Championship after two seasons in favor of a return to GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS competition this year.

The nine-time motorcycle racing world champion was part of Team WRT’s LMGT3 driver roster for the 2024 and ’25 campaigns, his third and fourth seasons of four-wheel racing after concluding his storied MotoGP career at the end of 2021.

However, it was revealed last month that Rossi will be turning his back on the WEC this year and returning to GTWC Europe full-time in one of WRT’s BMW M4 GT3 EVOs, having last contested both Endurance and Sprint Cups in full in 2023.

Rossi explained during a roundtable earlier this month in Bathurst that a combination of the 47-year-old preferring the style of racing in the SRO-run series, combined with a desire to cut down on travel, was the leading factor behind the decision.

“I started with GT World Challenge, and after I moved to the WEC, because it’s a world championship, so if you win you become a world champion,” he said.

“I made this choice [to leave WEC] for some different reasons.

“First of all, because I like to race with just GT3s [on track]. When you have to race together with Hypercar, with multi-class racing, it’s not the same.

“Maybe because I come from motorcycle racing, [only GT3s] for me is more exciting.

“Also, in WEC there are a lot of races outside of Europe and you have to stay away from home for a lot of days. In Qatar you have to stay ten days, because you have the [Prologue] test a week before. Le Mans is a fantastic race, but it’s also ten days.

“I have two young daughters, so for me, it’s too much. I like coming to Australia, and staying just for one week in Australia, but for the rest, I prefer to stay in Europe.”

Rossi made his fourth outing in the Meguiar’s Bathurst 12 Hour this month, finishing third, but his participation in the remainder of the Intercontinental GT Challenge has been sporadic, except for a constant presence in the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa.

Now free of his WEC commitments, Rossi outlined a desire to conquer the Nürburgring 24, in which he is yet to participate, as well as Bathurst and Spa.

“I want to try and race on the Nordschleife,” he said. “But for sure the Spa 24 is the biggest GT3 race of the year. So I want to win Bathurst, Spa, Nürburgring.”

Asked by Sportscar365 whether a move away from WEC could open the door to a first appearance in the Suzuka 1000km, which he ruled out last year on the basis of its awkward positioning on the calendar, the Italian expressed enthusiasm.

“Suzuka is on my wish list, because anyway, if I don’t do WEC, I have more time,” Rossi stated. “I want to race at Suzuka. I love that track, and last time was 2003 [for MotoGP], so more than 20 years ago. I hope I can race it this year.

“If everything goes well, I will race at Suzuka this year. This is the target.”

Rossi was handed the chance to sample BMW’s M Hybrid V8 LMDh car in the post-season WEC rookie test at Bahrain in 2024, but has yet to be given a chance to race one of the marque’s prototypes despite expressing his desire to do so on multiple occasions.

Asked for an update on his Hypercar ambitions, Rossi cooled on the prospect, stating he would be equally happy to continue indefinitely in GT3s.

“If I have the chance to race in Hypercar, I would be very happy because I tried the Hypercar and it’s a great car, very fun,” he said. “But I am also happy to remain in GT3.

“My target is to try to arrive at the top, to be a top GT3 driver. I am already happy. If I have a chance in Hypercar, I will be happy, but also in the GT3, I enjoy.”

Speaking to Sportscar365 at the end of last year, Rossi all but ruled out attempting to campaign an M Hybrid V8 on a customer basis with his VR46 team that competes in MotoGP, citing the huge hurdles in terms of financial and human resources.