By Joiner Martínez
Nov 27, 2023, 11:07 PM EST
The Italian motorcycling legend, Valentino Rossi, will participate in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) in 2024 in the new LMGT3 category, according to a first list of participants published this Monday by the organizers.
The seven-time MotoGP world champion, 44 years old, committed to the Belgian team WRT, will drive one of the 18 cars that will compete in his category.
Rossi is expected to participate in the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans, the main event of the WEC season, which will be held on June 15 and 16.
Rossi already won a race this year held outside the 24 Hours of Le Mans, in what was his first victory with a car.
Other well-known names in motorsports who will participate in the World Endurance Championship will be the Polish Robert Kubica and Mick Schumacher, both with pasts in Formula 1.
Rossi will race with BMW
BMW will line up two units of the M4 GT3 in the 2024 World Endurance Championship. One of them will feature Rossi and in the other, for the moment, the only confirmed name is that of Augusto Farfus, one of the official drivers of the German brand.
“I am excited to compete in the WEC. It is the next step for me, to participate in a World Cup and do it on a global level and not just in Europe,” explains Rossi in the statement in which WRT announces his signing.
The Italian faces a new challenge in his career, but is confident that his team can perform at a good level: “I am already familiar with the car after this season but the format with three drivers from different categories will be new for me. But I think we will be in a good position,” he says.
Rossi, who has already been competing in renowned international championships for several years (such as the GT World Challenge in which he participated this year with the M4 GT3), will therefore compete in the 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans, where he will compete against drivers from the likes of Davide Rigon (a world champion in Ferrari), José María ‘Pechito’ López (who leaves Toyota to lead Lexus’ assault in GT) or the Spanish Daniel Juncadella, brand new signing for Corvette Racing.
The LM GT3 category (which will mix professional and amateur drivers in the crews) will have 18 cars registered, at least according to the provisional list for the WEC 2024 published today by the FIA. There will be no less than nine brands present: Aston Martin, BMW, Ferrari, McLaren, Lamborghini, Ford, Lexus, Corvette and Porsche.
With the arrival of new teams, the 2024 endurance season looks very close, with 14 different constructors (nine of them in Hypercar), a record in the history of the championship.
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