Valentino Rossi has been confirmed to seem within the BMW M Hybrid V8 LMDh in next month's World Endurance Championship rookie testing in Bahrain.
BMW officially revealed the seven-time MotoGP champion's participation in testing the WRT Hypercar factory squad the day after the 2024 WEC final round alongside fellow factory riders Dan Harper and Max Hess.
The confirmation comes 4 weeks after Rossi, who races BMW WRT within the LMGT3 WEC class in addition to in GT World Challenge Europe, unilaterally announced that his promised stint within the M Hybrid would go as expected in the course of the rookie test.
Rossi, who got his first taste of the prototype within the WRT-powered ORECA-Gibson 07 LMP in the course of the rookie test last yr, said: “I'm thrilled to have the option to check the Hypercar – we've been on the lookout for a date time for a very long time and now it's finally happened.
“I actually wanted to do that test to get a feel for what the BMW M Hybrid V8 can do.
“Thank you very much to BMW M Motorsport for this opportunity.”
BMW M Motorsport boss Andreas Roos added that he “can't wait to see what our rookies can do.”
#20 BMW M WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 Team: Sheldon Van Der Linde, Robin Frijns, Rene Rast
Photo: JEP / Motorsport Images
Britain's Harper and Germany's Hesse are taking the M Hybrid for a spin after impressing behind the wheel of the BMW M4 GT3 since completing the brand's revamped junior program and gaining full factory status for 2023.
Their successes together this yr include third place within the Nurburgring 24 Hours with the RMG team and winning the GTWCE Endurance Cup at Paul Ricard in April, sharing an M4 GT3 with Charles Weerts and Augusto Farfus respectively.
Harper and Hesse have already driven the M Hybrid: they conducted aerodynamic tests, and Hesse participated in the event of the simulator.
Rossi, Harper and Hesse join the growing list of drivers who will participate within the novice test in Bahrain aboard Hypercar machines.
It consists of Theo Pourchaire and Clement Novalak for Peugeot, Victor Martins for Alpine and Arthur Leclerc for Ferrari.
Esteban Masson will likely be eligible to begin for Toyota after racing for sister brand Lexus within the LMGT3 this yr.
Reshad de Gerus, who finished third in LMP2 on the 24 Hours of Le Mans with IDEC Sport this yr, has been nominated to participate by the series organizer.
The Frenchman will drive the brand that wins the manufacturer's title.
According to Motorsport.com
Valentino Rossi driving a automotive that’s competing for top honors within the WEC and Le Mans may make headlines for BMW and the series as a complete, but his run mustn’t be seen as an try and earn a seat in one in all the M Hybrid races for next yr or elsewhere.
It's a PR opportunity and a few fun for Rossi. We shouldn't forget that his post-MotoGP profession on 4 wheels is as much about having fun with himself because it is about winning races.
Rossi has stated that his goal just isn’t to race an LMDh BMW, although he qualified for it with the statement “you never know”.
The reality is that he is nearly 46 years old and is simply completing his third full season of motor racing. He's not on par together with his skilled teammates within the M4 GT3, so it will be unrealistic to expect him to be on par with them within the prototype.
Hypercar within the WEC is simply too competitive to have weak links within the chain.
The world shouldn't be speculating on whether Rossi will ever race the M Hybrid, somewhat where he’ll race in 2025. The Italian plans to scale back his schedule next yr and could have to choose from WEC and GTWCE.
Cadillac also announced three drivers who will take the test.
They are Frederik Vesti, who was announced on Wednesday as a member of the Action Express Racing team within the IMSA SportsCar Championship, and Daniel Juncadella and Charlie Eastwood, each members of the factory squad of Cadillac sister brand Chevrolet.
Mathieu Jaminet, who races an LMDh Porsche in IMSA, is on the list for one in all the factory Penske run entries ahead of the 2025 campaign, which is able to include select WEC appearances, including Le Mans.
Formula 3 driver Charlie Wurz, son of two-time Le Mans winner Alex, will start in a Proton Competition customer Porsche.
Ferrari will start the race ahead of the brand new factory driver for 2024, Thomas Neubauer, in addition to the younger of Leclerc's brothers.
The stand-alone Lamborghini Hypercar driven by Iron Lynx will likely be sampled by Franck Perera and Jordan Pepper of the Italian marque's GT3 lineup.
Tom Gamble and Mattia Drudi, factory drivers for McLaren and Aston Martin respectively, will drive for his or her manufacturer's representative in LMGT3, United Autosports and Heart of Racing.
Aurelien Panis, whose father is Formula 1 race winner Olivier, will drive a Lexus LMGT3 for the Auto Sport Promotion team after ending second within the GTWC Sprint Cup Silver Cup class in a Mercedes Boutsen VDS.
