Motor racing-MotoGP great Rossi to do full world endurance season

(Reuters) – Valentino Rossi, the legendary MotoGP racer, is set to compete in the new LMGT3 category of the FIA world endurance championship for a full season, including participation in the prestigious Le Mans 24 Hours race. This announcement was made by the organizers on Monday.

The LMGT3 category is replacing the LMGTE class, which has been part of the racing circuit since 2012.

Rossi, a nine-time world champion, will be making his debut at the Le Mans 24 Hours next June. The 44-year-old Italian, who also owns the VR46 MotoGP team, had a victorious performance in a Road to Le Mans support race earlier this year.

In addition to Rossi, former Formula One driver Robert Kubica will be driving a Ferrari in the top Hypercar category of the championship with the AF Corse team, following his win in the now-defunct LMP2 category.

Mick Schumacher, who is a reserve driver for Mercedes F1 and the son of the great Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher, will be making his Hypercar debut with Renault-owned Alpine in the series.

The entry list published by the championship organizers on Monday includes a record 19 Hypercars and 14 manufacturers represented across both classes. The LMGT3 class has 18 entries.

Among the manufacturers competing in the championship are Alpine, Aston Martin, BMW, Cadillac, Corvette, Ferrari, Ford, Isotta Fraschini, Lamborghini, Lexus, McLaren, Peugeot, Porsche, and Toyota. Nine of them will be vying for the title in the Hypercar championship.

Notably, McLaren will be making their LMGT3 debut in partnership with United Autosports.

WEC chief executive Frederic Lequien expressed his excitement about the entry list, stating, “To have an entry list featuring 19 Hypercars plus 18 LMGT3 entries representing 14 different manufacturers truly reflects the golden era of endurance racing that we are experiencing right now.”

(Reporting by Alan Baldwin in London, editing by Pritha Sarkar)