Valentino Rossi has since retired from an illustrious career in MotoGP to pursue a career in GT racing and has now named a MotoGP World Champion who plans to follow in his footsteps when he retires from the sport.
It has become somewhat of a precedent for MotoGP’s most successful retirees in recent years, with Jorge Lorenzo, Dani Pedrosa and Casey Stoner all trying their hand at some form of four-wheel racing after calling it a day in MotoGP.
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Rossi Arguably the most successful of the famous ‘Fantastic four’, MotoGP is home to some of the biggest GT3 races in world motorsport, including the World Endurance Championship.
Now, the 115-time Grand Prix winner thinks of one VR46 Academy Riders to jump into car machinery to become the next MotoGP World Champion.
Valentino Rossi has revealed that Francesco Bagnaia is particularly interested in GT racing.
In an interview with Motorsport ItalyThe seven-time MotoGP World Champion asked the riders at the VR46 Riders’ Academy his thoughts on whether he would follow in his footsteps after retiring.
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Rossi was a two-time winner of the premier class Francesco Bagnaia “As I see it, our riders, especially Peco, but Beth and Luca ask a lot about it, so I guess they still want to come.
“Luca raced with me before and it was good, he was very fast. They are all very enthusiastic, so I expect they will come with me one day in a few years.
As Rossi said, Luca Marini He is joined by his half-brother in the coveted 2019 and 2021 editions of the Gulf 12 Hours at the Yas Marina Circuit and the Bahrain International Circuit respectively.
Joined by Rossi’s long-time friend and VR46 Racing boss Alessio Salucci, the duo secured a class win and P3 overall finish in 2019, and a P3 class finish and P4 overall in 2021.
Valentino Rossi answers whether VR46 Riders Academy will eventually extend to drivers
He was also asked if Rossi plans to expand his development program to include four-wheeled competitors. The 47-year-old has a close relationship with current Formula 1 world championship leader Kimi Antonelli.
However, Rossi believes his natural ability remains on two wheels, showing how he can make a bigger difference when leading riders uphill than riders.
“As for the idea of ​​recruiting drivers to set up a car racing academy, honestly, no,” he told the Italian newspaper.
“We’ve specialized in motorbikes and we’ve just taken on four young riders, so we’ve started again with 15-16-year-olds. But in my view, we can make a bigger difference in motorbikes than in cars.”
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