On the eve of the 6 Hours of Imola weekend we had the pleasure of interviewing Valentino Rossi, an official BMW driver ready to do battle with the other LMGT3s, sharing the seat with Maxime Martin and Ahmad Al Harthy. The Doctor revealed to us his feelings regarding the home race, valid as the second stage of the 2024 WEC season, also talking about BoP, progress behind the wheel and… MotoGP!
Valentino Rossi is ready to face his first home race of the 4-wheel World Championship season and, thanks to the WRT Team who welcomed us into their Hospitality, he expressed his emotions and considerations to us regarding the 6 hours of Imola. About 30 thousand fans will fill the stands on the Santerno along the 3 days dedicated to the WEC, of which the majority were supporters of #46. A situation certainly not new to a legend like Vale, who however explains: “I’m really very happy for the presence of so many fans, and let’s say that the difficult part of the weekend is moving from the hospitality to the garage! (laughs, ed.). But it’s still nice, though there is more pressure. Two years ago, when I made my car racing debut in the GT World Challenge, I had heard it a lot because I didn’t know exactly what I should do and how I would behave. But now it’s much more of a support, a push; It is much better“
“4 of us arrived in Qatarto position, we started the World Endurance Championship well, but we want to fight for the podium“, Valentino continued. The Doctor from Tavullia, however, explained to us that “in this type of championship you never know your true levelespecially for the Balance of Performance. In MotoGP, for example, you already know the week before whether you will be competitive or not in the next race. In any case, we will definitely aim for the podium!“
And speaking of MotoGP, Rossi did not spare himself some considerations regarding a possible balance of performance between the bikes of the different manufacturers: “For me, when I approached this type of endurance racing, the BoP was the most difficult aspect to manage. In MotoGP I was used to the opposite extreme! I think it is very important for this type of championshipbecause it allows Different manufacturers with different concepts to compete together. But from the pilot’s point of view it is very difficult to understand initially; it must not include the technical functioning, but more the competitive aspect. They try to put the machines at the same level: why? Usually when we arrive at the circuit we are used to just push hard! Once you understand, however, you understand how is something that needs to be managed in order to win the race in which 9 different manufacturers compete and from a driving point of view it doesn’t change much. In any case no, I wouldn’t apply it in MotoGP“
The Doctor is not the only one on board the #46 BMW M4 managed by Vincent Vosse’s Team, but sharing the cockpit are also the expert Maxime Martin and the fast gentleman Ahmad Al Harthy. The difficulty, therefore, is to set the car for 3 drivers with different driving styles and characteristics: “Lthe car gives me good driving feedback, it responds well, and it is very stable in fast corners and this is very important. However, the three of us suffer from a bit of understeer, and sometimes a lack of grip in general. So these are the aspects we work on every weekend to improve, but I would say that in general, all 3 of us get along quite well in the race, we have rhythm“.
Valentino is confident about the outcome of the 6 Hours of Imolaa track he already knows thanks to the previous experience gained at his official debut in GTWC Europe 2022, at the time with the Audi R8 LMS GT3 of the same Team WRT. “The Imola track is very particular: it’s narrow, it’s old fashioned, if you make a mistake you end up in gravel or on the wall“, specified Rossi. “There are also plenty of curbs to tackle, so you have to jump on it in the most correct way possible. But in general the layout is really very interesting, technical, with ups and downs; and I like!“
Vale will try a different experience in the next one 24 Hours of Le Mans 2024a great goal for him (after his triumph in the 2023 Road To Le Mans) fueled by the challenge of racing at night on the Circuit de La Sarthe. And from the look and tone used in the interview, #46’s desire to experience the experience on French soil shines through: “I’ve raced at night before in my 4-wheel career, in the Spa 24 Hours and the Bathurst 12 Hours. But at Le Mans I only raced during the day; I’ve been to circuits all over the world, but Le Mans (which I know in its motorbike version) is another story; I like it because you travel practically everything at high speed, and this makes it really exciting“
