Valentino Rossi will continue his adventure in the GT World Challenge Europe also for 2024 and will have two extremely valuable companions in Maxime Martin and Raffaele Marciello.
Team WRT presented its programs for next season in an evening at Spa-Francorchamps, where it illustrated its objectives and revealed the line-ups of the cars it will field in the various championships, including the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Rossi will therefore still be on the grid in the SRO Motorsports Group series for the five Endurance Cup events and will share the wheel of the #46 BMW M4 GT3 once again with Martin, who accompanied him throughout 2023 achieving podiums and the first victory in Misano, and a huge star like Marciello, who has just arrived at the court of the Bavarian company.
Still registered in the PRO Class, the Sprint Cup races at Brands Hatch and Misano will also be included in the list of commitments for the Rossi-Martin duo.
The 'Doctor' will also make his debut in the FIA WEC by attacking the LMGT3 Class with Martin and the Bronze driver, Ahmad Al Harthy, a native of Oman and already seen in action last year with the Aston Martin of ORT by TF.
BMW Team WRT Winter Party
Photo by: WRT Team
“I am very happy with my 2024 program and I can't wait to get started. In the GTWC I will race the Endurance Cup together with Maxime and 'Lello', two fantastic drivers and I believe we can be very strong. Furthermore, I will compete with Maxime in two races of the Sprint Cup, at Misano and Brands Hatch, two circuits where we did very well last year”, says the driver from Tavullia.
“The WEC is new for me, I will be with Maxime and Ahmad, and I am looking forward to racing in the main event at Le Mans, and places like Austin and Sao Paulo. A new experience for me, hopefully we will be competitive.”
Martin adds: “I'm looking forward to returning to the WEC, with the new LMGT3 category which looks very interesting. We will have a very strong line-up and I believe we can achieve very good results.”
“I'm happy to return with Vale in the GTWC and to be joined by Raffaele for the Endurance Cup races: it's a very strong lineup.”
Al-Harthy also smiles: “I am extremely happy to be part of an amazing team like WRT, at such an exciting time for the WEC. I look forward to working closely with my teammates and achieving great results together with them”.
“I have worked with Maxime in the past and he will definitely help me improve my riding. And sharing the seat with a legend like Vale: who would have thought that a kid from Oman watching MotoGP on TV would end up racing with a sportsman so famous? I'm happy to work with the whole WRT family.”
BMW Team WRT Winter Party
Photo by: WRT Team
For Marciello the commitment is twofold, since as has already been known for some time he will also have the wheel of the BMW M Hybrid V8 #15 in the WEC Hypercar Class, sharing it with Dries Vanthoor and Marco Wittmann, while on the second German LMDh chassis with Dallara we will have Robin Frijns, René Rast and Sheldon Van Der Linde.
“I am very happy with this double program in 2024, I have many good memories in the GTWC, where I was twice overall champion – comments the Swiss – Together with Maxime and Vale, and Team WRT, we have a very strong squad and I hope that we will spend an extraordinary year.”
“In the WEC, I am looking forward to taking on this important new challenge together with the BMW M Team WRT. Fighting with so many great manufacturers is exactly the challenge I was hoping to face.”
“Having been an opponent on the track for years, it's fantastic to now ride together with Dries, as well as have a BMW legend like Marco at our side.”
BMW Team WRT Winter Party
Photo by: WRT Team
As for the WEC LMGT3, Team WRT will also have the M4 #31 on which Augusto Farfus had already been announced; the Brazilian will have to guide his new teammates, namely Sean Gelael – who raced in LMP2 with the Belgian team and achieved the podium at the 24h of Dubai 2023 with the M4 – and the newcomer Darren Leung, with GT experience behind him between including last season's Nürburgring event.
Returning to the GTWC, in the PRO Class of the Endurance Cup there will also be the M4 #32 of the now consolidated Van Der Linde/Vanthoor/Charles Weerts trio, with Al Harthy engaged in the #30 of the Bronze Cup together with Sam De Haan and the BMW official, Jens Klingmann.
For the Sprint Cup, the PRO category could not miss the M4 #32 of Vanthoor/Weerts, sharing the garage with the #30 where De Haan will find the confirmed Calan Williams as his partner. The crew for car #31 is also in the pipeline, the drivers of which will be announced soon.
“The 2024 season will be a milestone in Team WRT's history. As we embark on this exciting journey, many thoughts come to mind,” reflects WRT Team Principal Vincent Vosse.
“Competing in the WEC and at Le Mans for the overall victory has always been our goal, both as a team and on a personal level. Now the dream becomes reality. Participating with a Hypercar, in what is probably the most competitive era of endurance racing Defending the colors of a legendary brand like BMW is already an achievement in itself, but naturally we want to succeed in this new challenge.”
“The entire team has been preparing for months and we will all give our all to succeed. It won't be easy, we know that, but we have an amazing team, an incredible driver line-up, a great car and the support of BMW M Motorsport, where we found many old friends and even made new ones.”
“In GT, last year we started our collaboration with BMW positively. We took up the challenges, won races, both long distance and sprint, and collected some memorable moments like those experienced in Misano. But we want more!”
“We want to improve, win more races, become champions again. I believe we have all it takes, including a stellar lineup, and we will give it our all. It's time to demonstrate that we know what to do, with the determination and passion of Always”.
BMW Team WRT Winter Party
Photo by: WRT Team
Andreas Roos, Head of BMW M Motorsport, comments: “In our second season together, the BMW M Team WRT has a race calendar full of highlights. After the formation of the LMDh in the FIA WEC, those for the BMW M4s were defined GT3 in the two main series for the team, the FIA WEC and the GTWC Europe”.
“I congratulate Vincent and his colleagues for securing excellent Bronze drivers for the LMGT3 class. With these crews, I see an excellent opportunity to play a leading role in this category.”
“In the GTWC, Team WRT, with a proven lineup strengthened by Raffaele, has a new chance to win titles with the M4 GT3. I wish the team and drivers success in all programs!”
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