Rossi “Very Curious” to Return to Lusail on Four Wheels

Valentino Rossi says it is “very positive” to start his FIA World Endurance Championship career at Qatar’s Lusail International Circuit, looking forward to rediscovering a track that he scored four MotoGP victories at before switching to car racing.

The Italian racer will make his WEC debut as part of Team WRT’s two-car LMGT3 effort during the Qatar 1812km on March 2, sharing the No. 46 BMW M4 GT3 with Maxime Martin and Ahmad Al Harthy.

For ‘Vale’, the Qatar season opener marks a return to circuit on which he achieved considerable success during his MotoGP days. Originally built for motorcycle racing, the Lusail venue hosted the inaugural Qatar Grand Prix in 2004.

Rossi would go on to win the event four times in 2005 (en route to his fourth MotoGP title), 2006, 2010 and 2015. Since then, the Lusail circuit has become an increasingly popular destination for four-wheeled racing and first hosted Formula 1 in 2021.

It will debut on the WEC calendar next month as part of a six-year deal with the championship announced in December 2022.

Ahead of his first WEC outing, Rossi spoke positively about the prospect of racing again at Lusail, adding that he is looking forward to rediscovering the venue in a different racing discipline.

“For me, it’s very positive to start in Qatar because I know the track,” Rossi said.

“I raced there with the motorcycles from 2004, from the first year. I’m very curious to understand what’s happened with the car in that track, but that is a good track for me.”

The Italian described his upcoming campaign with BMW, in which he will dovetail his WEC commitments with a season in Fanatec GT World Challenge powered by AWS Endurance Cup as “important” in deciding where his future in GT racing lies.

“It will be a lot of races, I think around 16,” Rossi said.

“It’s because this year I will be between the GT World Challenge and the WEC. They’re two different championships.

“I’m very happy to race in the WEC especially for Le Mans and for the rest, but I don’t know the feeling in those type of races.

“So I think that will be an important season to decide in which championship I can race in the future.

“I enjoy [it] very much in the GT World Challenge. The WEC is the world championship, so it’s a higher level but are also different races where you have also the Hypercars on the track. It’s different. I will see, it will be a new experience.”

The WEC lineup will see Rossi continue his partnership with Martin, which resulted in a breakthrough Fanatec GT Europe Sprint Cup win at Misano last year, while teaming up with Al Harthy for the first time.

The Omani driver is heading into his second WEC season, having enjoyed a positive debut campaign last year that included a class podium at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

“On paper, we are a strong lineup,” Rossi said.

“Because Al Harthy is very fast, I am a fast Silver, and Maxime is a fast pro. So, this is on paper, but in this type of races and championships, you never understand your level until you arrive in the race, you know?

“But on paper, I think that we are strong. For me, to win is not easy, but we try. For me, 2023 was very positive because I raised my level a lot.

“But [I] still [have] a lot of work to do because sometimes I’m close, sometimes I’m less close but I’m not at the level of the pros. So it will be not easy, but the target is try to arrive there.”