Valentino Rossi shortly before Le Mans 2024 with the BMW Hypercar

THE Valentino RossiThe nine-time motorcycle world champion and one of the all-time greats of MotoGP is rumored to be in advanced talks to join the Bavarian company’s works team in 18 months, when BMW returns to the pinnacle of endurance racing (WEC) at LeMans.

The German company is currently in the development phase of the BMW M Hybrid V8 hybrid racing hypercar, with which it will enter endurance racing in 2024. There it will join a number of leading factories who have also confirmed their entry into the LMDh class in the next two years – including Ferrari, Porsche, Lamborghini, Peugeot and Cadillac.

Valentino Rossi started this year in his first racing season after retiring from MotoGP in the races of the GT World Challenge Europe Championship in an Audi R8 LMS of the Belgian private team WRT. In his first full year of racing, the “Doctor” achieved excellent results over the course of the year.

Team WRT, on the other hand, will be cooperating with BMW from 2023, so next year the Italian will be starting with a BMW M4 GT3 racing car instead of the Audi R8 racing car. If, according to information, everything goes well and the “Doctor” continues his excellent results, then most likely in 2024 he will move up to the BMW factory team for endurance racing and the 24 Hours of Le Mans with the M Hybrid V8 hypercar.

In fact, the information states that Team WRT’s partnership with BMW was “orchestrated” by the Bavarian company itself, with the aim of luring Rossi to join the hypercar program in 2024.

I struggled with that this year Audi but next year I will be with her bmw» said Valentino. “I’ll be a works driver and I’m very happy. I’ve already tested the car, I’m staying with the same team as last year and the only thing that will change is the car.

THE WRT was with her Audi for 15 years but she was chosen bmw for 2023. I tried it on Monday after the last race in Barcelona. It’s beautiful, very modern, with a double bed Turbo, greater than Audi. It looks easier to drive.”

Regarding 2024 and the hypercar that the German company is preparing, the “Doctor” said: “I would like to try and hopefully we can organize a test. But then I have to understand how fast I am to become one of the drivers in the class hypercars. It’s going to be a tough challenge”closed.

Valentino Rossi said in 2019 that after retiring from motorcycle racing he would pursue a second career and continue racing for at least ten years. And last year he added that one of his big goals is to become competitive in the premier class of endurance racing and Le Mans. “The level of the drivers there is very high and I don’t know if I’m fast enough.”he said.