When he left the MotoGP championship at the end of the 2021 season, getting to race the 24 Hours of Le Mans seemed like a very distant goal for Valentino Rossi. After having cut his teeth in the WEC, today the dream becomes reality and the champion from Tavullia will be able to run the famous Sarthe race. Teaming up with Maxime Martin and Ahmad Al Harthy he will try to attack the podium with his Wrt team BMW M4.
Historic day for Valentino
Car #46 will start from 51st position overall, 12th in the LMGT3 class. Present at Le Mans for over a week, after the parade in the center of the French city, where he was welcomed like a star by thousands of fans, it’s time to hit the asphalt and get serious. Special helmet in light blue and fluorescent yellow, as usual designed by our friend Aldo Drudi, take off the visor and go. At 4pm everyone on the grid for the start, for the Doctor it already represents a triumph. “It was my dream when I started racing cars. Compared to MotoGP, where a lot of people come, here there are even more“.
The mind goes back to the times of the MotoGP, when sometimes the Assen GP was raced and Valentino Rossi was in front of the TV until late at night to watch the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Now he is one of the protagonists, but it is not the first time ever. Last year he participated in the two Road to Le Mans races and managed to win one round. “Even though this track is a road one, it goes very fast, on average 200 km/h“, he tells ‘La Gazzetta dello Sport’. “And the long runs (13.6 km) they are my favorites“.
Podium goal in the LMGT3 class
Historic circuit and magical atmosphere, especially when night begins to fall. The 45-year-old from Pesaro already has a certain familiarity with artificial lights and four wheels: twice in Spa, once in Dubai, a few hours in recent days. “Like all the things you do at night it’s very fascinating. But it’s also a little more difficult, you lose certain references and with traffic the confusion increases. You can’t quite tell how far away the cars are“.
The starting position is not the best, twelfth in the LMGT3 class. What goals does Valentino Rossi set himself? “Compared to MotoGP it’s more complicated to understand the level… On paper our pace isn’t bad, we’re aiming for the podium“. The champion from Tavullia should take the wheel in his hands around 8pm, and then drive at night and finally in the morning. “Le Mans is the most famous race in the world, the most important among endurance races… For me it’s a great challenge“.
Photo: Instagram @valeyellow46
