Rossi Sets Himself Pole Target After Hyperpole Rule Change

Valentino Rossi has set himself the target of improving his qualifying pace enough to score a first pole in the FIA World Endurance Championship this season.

The nine-time motorcycle racing world champion is embarking on his fourth season in car racing with Team WRT this year, and his second in the WEC, sharing the No. 46 BMW M4 GT3 EVO with Kelvin van der Linde and Ahmad Al Harthy.

Last month’s Qatar 1812km afforded Rossi the first chance to participate in qualifying in the WEC since he joined the championship, courtesy of a rule change that means Silver-rated drivers now have to drive in Hyperpole.

Bronze-rated Al Harthy qualified sixth in the first segment of LMGT3 qualifying to afford Rossi his first Hyperpole shot, with the Italian going on to secure eighth on the grid, 0.750 seconds off the pace of poleman Sean Gelael.

“I like it very much,” said Rossi of the new rule. “If not, Saturday was very long, maybe we would do three laps in the morning, and then nothing. So this is better. 

“It’s very exciting, you have to give the maximum concentration, it’s very demanding, the car is light. It’s fun to drive.

“Also because, sincerely, the qualifying lap is not my strong point, so to have the chance to improve on this, for me it’s better.”

Asked if he felt he could fight for a pole this year, Rossi replied: “Exactly, this is the target, because when you go to other races, you have to make the qualifying.

“Hopefully the fans in Imola will see me in Hyperpole!”

Rossi Says Schedule Makes Suzuka 1000km Appearance “Difficult”

After taking on a double program with BMW and WRT last year across the WEC and GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS, Rossi has scaled back his activities for this year to focus mainly on the former category.

However, the 46-year-old contested the Meguiar’s Bathurst 12 Hour round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge last month, and has previously confirmed that he plans to make a fourth appearance in the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa, and an additional appearance in the Sprint Cup leg of the GTWC Europe at his home venue at Misano.

Asked whether he could consider adding the revived Suzuka 1000km round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge to his schedule, Rossi said that its positioning between the Circuit of The Americas and Fuji WEC rounds on the calendar makes it impractical.

“I think this year it will be difficult because in the calendar it’s between two WEC races,” said Rossi, who won the Suzuka 8 Hour two-wheel endurance race in 2001 and last raced at the famous figure-of-eight track in MotoGP in 2003.

“It’s two weeks before Fuji, so it will be difficult. You have to go to Suzuka and then either stay around, or go back and forth.

“Maybe this year it’s tricky, but I want to drive this car at Suzuka [in the future] because the track is one of the best.”