Label: Valentino Rossi

Nov282023 by Tomaž StrgaršekNo Comments

Rossi confirmed for Le Mans 24 Hours

Valentino Rossi will compete in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) next year in the new LMGT3 category. The Italian, who has raced in the GT World Challenge Europe series for the past two seasons, will thus take another step forward in his new career on four wheels. He will continue to be part of the Belgian team WRT, which uses racing cars from the German manufacturer BMW. Next June, as part of the WEC season, he will take part in one of the most legendary races, the 24 Hours of Le Mans. "I'm very happy to compete in the WEC championship. It's the next step in my endurance racing career," said the nine-time World Motorcycle Champion. BMW is one of the nine manufacturers that will compete in the LMGT3 category in the upcoming WEC season. In addition to them, Ferrari, Porsche, Chevrolet, Aston

Nov272023 by Blaž ŠtremfeljNo Comments

Francesco Bagnaia: I didn't have to win, but I dreamed about it

MotoGP News

Francesco Bagnaia said he wanted to confirm the world title by winning the race, even though he didn't even need to after Jorge Martin's crash. A victory by Jorge Martin would have made Bagnaia the champion just by finishing in the top five, but the Spaniard crashed in the sixth lap and Bagnaia cruised to another victory to cap off a successful season. "I feel amazing," he said. "I've never been so happy. I'm so happy because I won the race. The victory today was not necessary given the circumstances, but I dreamed of confirming the championship with the victory. I'm happy, but I was scared during the race. "With five laps to go, I started to get cold and I was afraid of what would happen because I chose the hard front tire. It wasn't easy for me today because I was under a lot of pressure."

Nov232023 by PRNo Comments

Valentino Rossi back to Yamaha

MotoGP News

According to some German media, Valentino Rossi is said to have reached an agreement that his VR46 team will race with Yamaha motorcycles from 2025 onwards, thus at least indirectly returning the once successful relationship to the track. Rossi's Mooney VR46 team has been competing with Ducati bikes since entering the MotoGP class in 2022, and from 2025 they are expected to use Yamaha engines. According to German Speedweek speculation, one of the team's riders would get a fully factory-backed motorcycle, and for the first time in two seasons without a semi-factory team, Yamaha will have four motorcycles in the MotoGP races. The VR46 team has linked up with Indonesian lubricant manufacturers, Pertamina Lubricants, who will be their main sponsor for at least the next three seasons from 2024.

Nov132023 by Blaž ŠtremfeljNo Comments

Luca Marini to Repsol Honda for two years, official confirmation this weekend

MotoGP News

The Italian Luca Marini is expected to officially confirm his transfer from the VR46 team to Repsol Honda this week, where he will race for at least the next two seasons. Marini will, it seems, follow the path of his half-brother Valentino Rossi, who also raced with Honda at the beginning of his career, and in the Japanese manufacturer's garage he will in all likelihood work with the same chief mechanic, Santi Hernandez, who has worked closely together in recent years with Marco Marquez. The most important part that should convince Marini to transfer is the duration of the contract, as Honda initially offered the Italian a contract for one season, and at a meeting between Marini's manager and Honda in the paddock in Malaysia, they apparently reached an agreement on a longer-term cooperation. For now, the deal has not been officially confirmed, although it was unofficially confirmed by Marc Ma

Nov92023 by PRNo Comments

Rossi on Malaysia 2015: I think they will punish Marquez

MotoGP News

MotoGP is in full swing in Malaysia this weekend. The Sepang circuit hosted one of the most high-profile events in MotoGP, when the relationship between two giants, Marc Marquez and Valentino Rossi, exploded on the track. Although eight years have passed since then, the two actors, like the viewers, are still strongly divided about the events. Rossi recently spoke about the incident in one of the podcasts and said that the feelings are still exactly the same. "When I think about the last three races of 2015 now, I have the same feelings as when I finished the last race back then," said the Italian. "It remains a deep wound, which I still think too much about. Fortunately, later in my career I started doing things that make me happy, but... In Malaysia, Marc was pestering me the whole race. He wanted me to fall, but then we hit on the flat. He says that s

Nov52023 by Blaž ŠtremfeljNo Comments

Valentino Rossi behind the wheel of an LMP2 racing car for the first time

Other sports

Valentino Rossi took part in the testing of the young drivers of the WEC Championship in Bahrain, and for the first time in his career he drove the WRT Oreca 07 prototype racing car. The MotoGP star clearly got to know the car quickly, as he set a lap time of 1:55.118 in the afternoon, just behind the best time of the riders in the LMP2 class, 1:54.302, set by Charles Weerts, also a guest of the WRT team by less than a second, but it was just under seven-tenths of a second faster than the worst time in the same class. https://twitter.com/Endurance_Live/status/1721102341703664101

Nov52023 by Blaž ŠtremfeljNo Comments

Luca Marini plans to leave his brother's VR46 team

MotoGP News

Speaking to Spanish AS, Luca Marini said that his first goal is to win the MotoGP race and then find a place in the factory team. The Italian entered the MotoGP class with the VR46 team, which is owned and managed by his brother Valentino Rossi and which is having a very successful season this year. But in this year's championship, Marini was slightly overshadowed by his team rival Marco Bezzecchi, who theoretically is still in the fight for the world title. Becoming the MotoGP class champion is also Marini's goal: "But for now the first major goal is to win the race and then to find a place in the factory team where I would like to develop a motorcycle that will suit my riding style." Marini recently spoke to Repsol Honda team boss Alberto Puig, but the Italian has ruled out a move to Honda next season

Nov22023 by Blaž ŠtremfeljNo Comments

Valentino Rossi testing rookies with an LMP2 car

24 Hours of Le Mans, Other sports, World Endurance Championship

Valentino Rossi will take part in the official rookie testing of the World Endurance Championship in Barhain this weekend with the Belgian team WRT, where he will drive a prototype race car in the LMP2 class for the first time. "I'm happy for the opportunity to get behind the wheel of an LMP2 car for the first time," said the Italian. "This is a great opportunity given to me by the WRT team as we also plan to test a BMW hypercar in the future. Before this test it is very good to get some experience with the LMP2 prototype car as it has a similar level of vacuum and I am interested in what I capable behind his wheel. When I'm in Bahrain, I'll also be happy to watch the last race of the season, because I hope to race in the WEC championship in the future. That way I'll feel the atmosphere and the course of the event more easily." He will be with the team at rookie testing

October142023 by Tomaž StrgaršekNo Comments

Valentino Rossi third in the first race in Zandvoort

Other sports

Valentino Rossi, together with his teammate Maximo Martin, came third in the first race of the GT World Challenge Europe car competition in Zandvoort, the Netherlands. Ricardo Feller and Mattia Drudi took first place for the Audi team, while Albert Costa and Thierry Vermeulen came second with Ferrari. https://twitter.com/ValeYellow46/status/1713218191143366877?t=pwLZTl3bB3mkwVhevziEGg&s=19 Rossi started the race from the fifteenth starting position, but soon made his way to ninth. In the continuation, the Italian drove well and managed to overtake several rivals before handing over the car to his teammate. He managed to finish the job in the second part and bring the team third place.

October52023 by Blaž ŠtremfeljNo Comments

Jorge Martin: There is no more toxic rivalry in MotoGP than between Rossi and Marquez

MotoGP News

Jorge Martin, who in the past MotoGP races took on the role of challenging the current champion Francesco Bagnaia, spoke about his relationship with the Italian, with whom he was teammates in the Moto3 class. "We were teammates and bonded," said the Spaniard. "We were not friends in the true sense of the word, but we were on friendly terms. Even now we get along well, but we are not friends. There is a lot of mutual respect between us, which I admire. We are both fair racers on the track and do not get involved in incidents. We fought we joined Moto3 and progressed to MotoGP together." According to the Pramac team racer, the periods of intense or "toxic" rivalries, as we last saw between Marc Marquez and Valentino Rossi, are now over. "Not that we miss them, but such a toxic one