MotoGP legend Rossi to continue in WEC with WRT BMW team in 2025

Motorbike racing legend Valentino Rossi will return to the World Endurance Championship with the WRT BMW squad in 2025. 

The Italian’s second season within the LMGT3 class of the WEC has been confirmed alongside together with his team-mates within the #46 BMW M4 GT3 EVO for the eight-race schedule incorporating the Le Mans 24 Hours.

Rossi will share the automobile with the new BMW signing Kelvin van der Linde and Ahmad Al Harthy, with whom he was teamed throughout his maiden marketing campaign. 

Van der Linde has changed Maxime Martin, Rossi’s associate in WEC and the GT World Problem Europe since 2023, after his departure to Mercedes was announced in December. 

Affirmation of a second season within the WEC follows Rossi’s decision to slim down his racing programme for 2025. 

The 45-year-old recommended in the summertime that he wanted to select between racing in WEC and the GTWCE, earlier than hinting on the finish of his 2024 marketing campaign {that a} continuation at world championship degree was most certainly.

“Very glad to proceed my expertise within the WEC, as final 12 months was a powerful debut season,” stated Rossi.  

“We had some good races together with two podiums and we need to attempt to be stronger and sooner. We’ll work onerous along with BMW M Motorsport to enhance our efficiency and be extra aggressive in each race.”

WRT’s second LMGT3 entry, #31, will probably be raced by the already-confirmed Augusto Farfus and Timur Boguslavskiy and Yasser Shahin. 

Boguslavskiy is shifting over from the Auto Sport Promotion Lexus group, with which he contested three WEC rounds final 12 months. 

The Russian was previously a daily on the wheel of the Mercedes-AMG GT3 within the GTWCE with the French group, successful the Endurance Cup title in 2019 and 2023. 

Australian Shahin is switching over from the Manthey Porsche team with which he completed second in LMGT3 final 12 months and gained the category at Le Mans. 

His announcement follows the move of Sean Gelael and Darren Leung, Farfus’s team-mates final 12 months, from WRT to United Autosports for the brand new season.

#31 Workforce WRT BMW M4 LMGT3: Darren Leung, Sean Gelael, Augusto Farfus

Picture by: Andreas Beil

The #31 BMW will probably be entered below The Bend Team WRT banner in reference to the race monitor that Shahin developed, The Bend Motorsport Park, in South Australia.

BMW has additionally firmed up the IMSA SportsCar Championship line-ups for M4s raced by manufacturing facility drivers forward of the season-opening Daytona 24 Hours on 25-26 January.

Dan Harper and Max Hesse will a race GT Daytona Professional entry for Paul Miller Racing and will probably be supported by Farfus and Jesse Krohn on the IMSA Endurance Cup rounds. 

Neil Verhagen, who graduated like Harper and Hesse from BMW’s revived junior scheme, will share a second Miller Professional entry with Madison Snow, whereas Van der Linde and Connor De Phillippi will be a part of them for endurance programmes.

Rob Foley, who has been contracted to BMW since 2023, will share a daily GTD class entry run by Turner Motorsport in a full North American marketing campaign with Patrick Gallagher and will probably be joined for the enduros by Jake Walker and at Daytona by Jens Klingmann.