Rossi: BMW Hypercar Better Fit to My Driving Style

Valentino Rossi believes the BMW M Hybrid V8 LMDh car is a more natural fit to his driving style, having tested the car for the first time at the FIA World Endurance Championship rookie test in Bahrain.

The nine-time motorcycle world champion completed his long-awaited first test outing aboard the Dallara-chassised prototype at the Bahrain International Circuit on Sunday.

Rossi completed 69 laps aboard the No. 20 car, reeling off a 1:50.577 at the end of the second and final session to end the day as the second-fastest rookie only behind Ferrari driver Arthur Leclerc.

The Italian spoke of a “good feeling with the car” after the test, describing the M Hybrid V8 as a “proper race car.”

“I feel good because the car has a lot of horsepower, but you have a good feedback when you drive,” Rossi said.

“You can understand the car. It’s very sensitive. And also the braking without the ABS, I like a lot. It’s a lot better.

“For sure, sometimes you did some mistakes, but it’s something that you can adapt more to your style. Because when you have the ABS, you arrive at one point and after it’s ABS.

“So this is better and also it is a proper race car. It’s more precise, it’s more stiff and you have a lot of aero, so also in the fast [corners] and in the braking [zones] it’s impressive.”

Rossi, who drove a Team WRT Oreca 07 Gibson at the rookie test last year, indicated that the Hypercar is a more natural fit to his driving style than the GT3 machinery he has been racing since his full-time switch to sports car racing in 2022.

“First of all, the line with the Hypercar is more similar to the motorcycle line because you stay on the track usually,” he explained.

“Because with the GT for me at the beginning was very difficult, you have to cut everything. Cut outside, cut especially inside [the curbs]. So it’s another way to drive.

“This one is more similar to a bike. Also the speed is higher, but at the same time you have also more grip.

“So it’s very good and also it’s a real day of testing. I was alone in the car, I have all the guys with me, I have Rene Rast who gave me a lot of advice so I can improve during the day like this. It was good. I enjoyed.”

The 1:50.577 that Rossi set placed him ahead of fellow BMW rookies Max Hesse and Dan Harper in the second session, which he revealed came partially thanks to the availability of two sets of fresh medium tires at the end of the test.

“I was a little bit unlucky because I had two sets and I think that with the second set you can improve,” he said.

“But the first set I had a red flag and after the second set when I pushed, I had a GT3 traffic so I tried to overtake but I spun.

“And they say it’s over because you know usually you destroy the tire, you flat spot the tire, you damage the tire. But luckily it was good, so I restart and I [did] another lap and I set a 50.5.”

Rossi Leaning Towards WEC over Fanatec GT Europe for Third Season with BMW

Rossi said that he has not yet made a definitive decision with regards to his racing plans for next year, noting that he will likely not combine WEC with Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS for a second year in a row.

Instead, he indicated that it is likely that he will remain in the world championship next year, citing BMW’s preference as a reason why.

“For them, it’s more important,” he said. “I don’t decide yet because some things are better here some things are better there. Now, it’s more WEC.

“Anyway now in two or three weeks I will race in the GT World Challenge for the last race in Jeddah and after we will decide right after and we will let you know. Anyway, I will do one or the other one [and not both].”

Jamie Klein contributed to this report