“The circuit brings back great memories”
“I miss MotoGP, it has been my life for 30 years, but now I try to be competitive on four wheels. And it is difficult”, explains the 46, star of the Festival of Speed
“My idea is to run the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2024. But first I must improve and be more competitive. In 2023 I will continue in the GT World Challenge Europe”, anticipates the Italian star
valentino rossi is the undisputed star of the Festival de la Velocidad, which is being held this weekend at the Circuit de Barcelona Catalunya. The Italian star, who at 43 years old has left behind an impressive stage of more than two decades and seven MotoGP world titles, is trying to gain a foothold on four wheels and this season he made his debut in the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe series, which ends on Sunday. rossi pilot the Audi R8 LMS EVO II GT3 together with Frederic Vervisch and Nico Muller (Team WRT) and after caressing the podium in Hockenheim, he assures that this is his objective to dismiss the course.
“I like Barcelona, the city is magnificent and also the Circuit, which brings back great memories because here I achieved great successes in MotoGP”, Valentino recorded this Friday at a press conference. “This weekend we will try to be in the top five or get as close as possible to the podium, anything is possible although thinking about victories is premature because I am still in the adaptation phase to the category”, explained the 46.
“In general, the balance of my first full season in GT is positive, there is a lot of feeling with the team and the competition is exciting, but it’s proving difficult”, admits Rossi. “It’s not just a question of speed, you have to be aware of the tyres, the safety cars, the traffic because there are many cars on the track…it’s a Championship totally different from MotoGP. I try to improve and learn in each race and the goal is to feel more and more competitive”, he pointed out. valentinethat at the moment there are no more important challenges such as the WEC and Le Mans: “My idea is to run the 24 Hours in 2024. But first I have to improve. Honestly, I go race by race and now I know that I want to compete in this championship next year because I had a lot of fun and I want to try to be more competitive,” he announced.
“I always had in mind that I would race in a car when my MotoGP career was over. For me it is something very important because I am still a rider and I want to be in the races, I have to try, feel the adrenaline of the starts… and I will try to continue competing in cars for a long time, but that turned out a lot of my results. Dakar, which is a great race, but I prefer to compete on asphalt because it is my place, I am better on the track”, has underlined.
“I miss MotoGP a lot, of course, because it has been my life for almost 30 years, more than three quarters of my life. For me it is the best show in motorsport, more than the rest. It is my personal feeling. I follow the races, of course, and I also feel adrenaline because I have my brother competing. But it is different to see it from the outside”, commented Valentino, who has not been spared the questions about the current championship: “The title is still very open for three riders, Aleix Espargaró, Pecco Bagnaia and Fabio Quartararo. There are still four races left and anything can happen, because they are very close in terms of points. They can still win all three “, he has settled.