Rossi Confirms Return to GTWC Europe, BMW Contract Extension

Photo: Charly López/DPPI

Valentino Rossi will make his full season return to GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS after deciding to end his FIA World Endurance Championship career in favor of the SRO Motorsports Group-run GT3 championship.

The nine-time motorcycle world champion, who has spent the last two seasons in the LMGT3 class of the WEC, will shift his focus back to the regional series for an expected campaign with Team WRT that will include both the Sprint and Endurance Cups.

It became apparent Rossi wouldn’t continue in the WEC this year when WRT signed two new FIA Bronze/Silver-rated driver pairings in its pair of BMW M4 GT3 EVOs.

Rossi, who last undertook a full season of GTWC Europe in 2023, has made several one-off appearances since, most notably in the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa and Sprint Cup round at his home track of Misano, where he claimed wins three years in a row.

“I’ll be racing in GT World Challenge,” Rossi told Sky Sport Italia. “I’m very happy because it’s a championship I did at the beginning of my car racing career.

“Then, for the last two years, I did the WEC but I decided to switch because GT World Challenge is in Europe and the races are closer together.

“The WEC is always outside Europe and I would have had to take planes and make intercontinental trips, with my two girls and my family at home.

“You have to be on the road for a lot of days. It was a bit of a choice, but I’m very happy because GT World Challenge is fun.”

The 46-year-old Italian also revealed that he’s also signed a three-year contract extension with BMW, securing his future with the German manufacturer for the long term.

His co-drivers for the upcoming GTWC Europe campaign in an expected Pro class entry have yet to be announced.

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John