Valentino Rossi: Racing at 24 Hours of Le Mans ‘more enjoyable’ than MotoGP

MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi says the difference in pressure he feels racing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans makes it ‘more enjoyable’ than grand prix racing was for him.

The nine-time grand prix world champion retired from MotoGP at the end of the 2021 season to pursue a career in car racing, with the Italian making his World Endurance Championship debut last season.

Racing with the WRT BMW squad, he achieved two podiums last year but the No.46 car suffered a non-finish at the 24 Hours of Le Mans when team-mate Ahmad Al Harthy crashed.

Valentino Rossi comes into his second 24 Hours of Le Mans partnered again by Al Harthy, while Kelvin van der Linde has joined the line-up in 2025, with that entry close to a victory at Imola if not for a tangle while Rossi was behind the wheel.

It topped qualifying in LMGT3 on Wednesday night with Al Harthy driving.

Speaking to media, including Crash.net, on Thursday at Le Mans, Rossi spoke about the pressures he feels at the French enduro compared to his days in MotoGP.

“I live this experience in a better way, because for me I enjoy very much racing with cars and working with the team,” he said.

“And I’m very happy to be at Le Mans, which is one of the most famous and iconic races in the world.

“But I feel a lot less pressure compared to MotoGP. MotoGP, for me, was the reason for my life, so was sometimes difficult to manage the pressure.

“So, here I can say that I enjoy it more.”

Less pressure, but same effort as in MotoGP for Rossi

Though he admits the pressure he feels racing in WEC, Rossi says his commitment remains as it was, while also praising the drivers he has had alongside him in helping this.

“I mean, I have less pressure,” he said.

“I feel a little bit less pressure, but my commitment, my effort is always 100% because I like a lot to give my maximum and improve my skills and my level as a driver.

“It’s a bit more difficult than on a motorcycle because unfortunately I am a bit old! But I can improve, I can understand.

“I know the way to work with the engineers to check the data, and also in this type of races you share the car.

“I always share the car with big names, from [Maxime] Martin, to [Raffaele] Marciello, to [Augusto] Farfus and van der Linde.

“With the bike, you never have another rider on your bike. You have a team-mate, but always the bikes are a little bit different.

“Here, the car is the same car, so you can have exactly the same feeling. And this I like a lot.”

Looking ahead to the race, Rossi believes the No.46 BMW M4 GT3 has improved compared to last year, particularly with its electronics and overall stability.

“I think we improved the car from last year, we improved the electronics side, and also the stability of the car; you can push more,” he added.

“The feeling is good, but it’s very difficult to understand the level compared to the others.

“Because until the race, or until this evening in the qualifying it’s hard to understand. It looks like Ferrari and Porsche are very, very strong.

“It’s early to say, but usually in the race… we have the experience from last year.

“Last year we were competitive. Looks like we will have a different race because the weather was bad, during the night you had a lot of water, a lot of safety cars.

“Looks like the forecast at the moment is better, looks like it will be a dry race, which will be better from a point of view because you can concentrate and push.”