There were lots of people on the track this Sunday in Bahrain, less than 24 hours after the finale of the 2024 season. Like every year, the WEC organized its famous Rookie Test there. The opportunity for the teams involved to run drivers who may one day join them.
Arthur Leclerc, for example, took the wheel of an official Ferrari 499P, Victor Martins that of an Alpine A424 or even Théo Pourchaire and Clément Novalak that of a Peugeot 9X8. But one of the most scrutinized drivers was Valentino Rossi, entered for the year in the No. 46 BMW M4 LMGT3 for Team WRT. This time, Dottore went up a notch by discovering the German manufacturer's Hypercar.
© Javier Jimenez / DPPI
After a relatively calm morning completed with “only” 29 laps, Valentino Rossi was treated to a busier afternoon. 69 new laps for the Transalpine with a best time of 1'50″577 improving its previous mark by more than half a second (1'51″280). When summarizing this first experience, the former motorcycle driver highlighted the speed felt behind the wheel of the Hypercar.
« A fantastic dayhe summarized. The whole team and René Rast gave me advice. I had a lot of fun. The car is fantastic, very fast and very strong. It has a lot of power, lap times are 15 seconds faster than the GT3, the tires have a lot of grip. It's a real racing car. I was quite worried because I had never driven a Hypercar before, but I felt good from the first lap because the car is stable (…) It is very difficult to go fast, but it is very fun. » Now to see if Valentino Rossi could be a serious contender for a rise in Hypercar in the short term, whether at BMW or another manufacturer.
READ ALSO > Martins after the Rookie Test with Alpine: “I was able to have a lot of fun”
