Saturday at Brands Hatch did not smile for Valentino Rossi, who for Race 1 of the GT World Challenge Europe qualified only 20th in a rather complicated and disappointing Qualifying 1.
The ‘Doctor’ had the first round of timed qualifying, but while he was looking for the attack on the best time, a couple of accidents occurred in front of him which forced him to lift his foot.
“We’ve been working since the morning on the car to try to be competitive and at the same level as our rivals, something we usually don’t know about. Even if there are fewer cars in the Sprint Cup, the drivers are fast and the times are all close together”, explains the Team WRT rider in the post-session.
“Unfortunately, our starting position for tomorrow’s Race 1 isn’t fantastic, but I have to say I was unlucky. While I was on the good lap, I had improved by 6 tenths, but a Porsche went off in the final stretch just as I was arriving, I was about ten seconds away from her.”
“When I arrived I found the yellow flags, so I had to slow down. It’s a shame because the weather wasn’t bad and I could have finished around 10th-13th, which would certainly have been better than being 20th.”
#46 Team WRT, BMW M4 GT3: Valentino Rossi, Maxime Martin
Photo by: SRO
The hope is to pass the first race on Sunday morning unscathed, betting everything on the second in the afternoon when his teammate Maxime Martin will start from fifth place.
“In Q2 Maxime was very strong and set the fifth fastest time, so for Race 2 we’ll start from there; it’s a good position and we need to concentrate well. It’s not easy to overtake here because the track is very narrow, but we’ll use Race 1 to improve the ‘set-up of the car gaining experience to be stronger in the second race”.
“This is our goal. I’m sorry that I’m struggling a little more here than in Monza and my performance was a little worse. In any case, starting fifth for Race 2 is interesting and we’ll try to do our best.”
“Last year I finished eighth and I would like to improve this position, perhaps reaching the Top5. In my opinion, our pace isn’t bad. If I manage to improve my driving and the set-up of the car, I think we can have a good race.”
#46 Team WRT, BMW M4 GT3: Valentino Rossi
Photo by: SRO
Even before starting the weekend, the boy from Tavullia had said that he liked the Kent track a lot, even if it also has difficult characteristics.
“It’s a track that I like very much, it’s wonderful. It’s the second time I’ve come here and I see it a bit like the Donington of cars, if I think back to when I raced there with motorbikes. It’s very similar in terms of style, technique and speed, with ups and downs in the middle of the green”.
“With this type of car it’s difficult to overtake because it’s narrow, but when you go to the limit it’s a lot of fun. The part I like the most is the section between turns 5-6-7, while in the last part you race a bit blindly and you never know what might appear in front of you”.
#46 Team WRT, BMW M4 GT3: Valentino Rossi
Photo by: SRO
Rossi then commented on the great commitment that awaits him in a month, namely the Le Mans Cup race on the 24h track as a support race to the great French event.
“Taking part in Road To Le Mans is a great opportunity because it is the only event that uses the same track design as the 24h, as well as very different Michelin tyres. I am delighted to do it and can’t wait to go there”.
“I’ll also stop at the 24h, I’ve never seen it live, but only on TV, so I’d like to understand what the atmosphere is like. There are always lots of people and it’s beautiful, then we’ll see how our race goes. I’m curious to see what our performance will be, I’ll train on the simulator and I’m curious”.
#46 Team WRT, BMW M4 GT3: Valentino Rossi, Maxime Martin
Photo by: SRO
The 24h of Le Mans is the goal set in Valentino’s head for some time, but he is in no hurry to forge ahead to achieve it. Especially when there is the awareness that first of all he will have to be competitive with the BMW M4 # 46 and then make further leaps in category, perhaps with the LMDh prototype of the Bavarian manufacturer which he will have the opportunity to test later on.
“As I’ve already said several times, the 24h of Le Mans is the most famous race in the world and the goal is to do it, we’ll try it next year with a GT. However, I still don’t know the 2024 program. My idea is run the biggest endurance races, such as Le Mans, Spa-Francorchamps, Bathurst and also on the Nordschleife”.
“For now, I’ll definitely do them with a GT, in the meantime I’ll have the opportunity to test the LMDh. I hope to be able to do it as soon as possible during this season, we’ll try to organize a couple of test days with BMW, but at the moment I don’t know where or when. Maybe in September or October, also because WRT will have to take the car and start preparing for 2024 in the FIA WEC”.
“Whether I can race in a championship with the LMDh will depend a lot on my performance and whether I’ll be able to be fast enough, which is very important. I hope so, but at the moment I really like GTs and I want to continue to compete with the best riders in this category. Then we’ll see”.
On a side note, Rossi was fined €50.00 for exceeding the speed limit in the pit lane during Pre-Qualifying, dropping to 50.1km/h when the set limit is 50km/h.
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