Valentino Rossi will return to race the 12h of the Gulf, which this year will be the last event of the 2023 season of the Intercontinental GT Challenge.
The ‘Doctor’ had not participated in the Yas Marina event since the 2021 edition, the year in which he should have been at the start before falling ill with Coronavirus, consequently giving up the race.
In Abu Dhabi, BMW M Motorsport is playing for the title and for the occasion has chosen to divide the crews lined up on the two M4 GT3s prepared by Team WRT, in order to have a better chance of standing out with its official drivers.
Philipp Eng and Sheldon Van Der Linde will race on the #32 supported by Charles Weerts, while Rossi will join Dries Vanthoor, who is playing his chances together with Nick Yelloly.
BMW is leading the Constructors’ standings with 133 points thanks to the triumphs achieved in Kyalami, Spa-Francorchamps and Indianapolis, followed by Mercedes at -9, while Eng is -8 points behind the leader of the drivers’ standings, Jules Gounon, with Van Der Linde and Vanthoor behind the Austrian and -16 points from the top.
Photo by: BMW Motorsport
#46 Team WRT, BMW M4 GT3: Valentino Rossi, Augusto Farfus, Maxime Martin
“I’m very happy to return to the Yas Marina circuit. In the past I took part in this race with Ferrari and it was excellent, achieving third place overall. I had a lot of fun, the track is fantastic”, comments Valentino.
“This year the level will be much higher, with lots of fast cars and professional drivers on the grid. We’ll see how we perform and I can’t wait to race with BMW on this track. It will be a lot of fun.”
Eng adds: “I’m really excited to get into the thick of the title fight in Abu Dhabi. The circuit is a lot of fun, it’s changed a bit since I last went there in 2013, but I think that should play in the team’s favour. our M4. I have great teammates and a fantastic team. Of course the competition is strong, but our chances are good.”
Andreas Roos, Head of BMW M Motorsport, comments: “It’s fantastic to be able to compete for titles at the end of such a long and eventful season. The 2023 Intercontinental GT Challenge was an incredible journey across five continents, with significant victories at Kyalami, Indianapolis and above all the highlight of the season at Spa-Francorchamps.”
“We can already say that our efforts in this series have been more than fruitful. We thank our WRT and Rowe Racing teams for their efforts, our drivers for their excellent performances and all our colleagues at BMW M Motorsport. Now we want to complete the year worthily in Abu Dhabi by winning the titles in the Constructors’ and Drivers’ classification!”
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