15.12.2023Keine Scheu vor großen Namen: Valentino Rossi in Bathurst

The MotoGP legend will be competing in the glorious endurance classic for the first time. The Le Mans appearance of the nine-time motorcycle world champion has nothing to do with a PR stunt. After his move from MotoGP to GT3 racing, Rossi had the same ambition in the racing car from the start as he had before on the motorcycle. What's more, he wasn't afraid of the biggest names in the four-wheel scene. One of them: Bathurst. Rossi took part in the 12-hour race on the ultra-demanding track in Australia at the beginning of 2023. Minichamps has now released its BMW M4 GT3 from Mount Panorama as a model.

For 26 years, Valentino Rossi left his mark on the motorcycle world championship. The Italian celebrated nine world titles, achieved 115 Grand Prix victories and thrilled fans around the world. His name became synonymous with MotoGP. The same applies to his starting number, the yellow 46.

The name and number were occasionally seen on a racing car at the height of Rossi's motorcycle career. For example, the superstar took a seat in the Formula 1-cockpit at Ferrari and Mercedes for a ride. Rossi also occasionally took part in endurance races in GT-racing.

Therefore, the racing world was already expecting his move to the closed racing cockpit when Rossi announced his retirement from MotoGP in August 2021. And this change happened the following year. In order to get into GT3 racing full-time, Rossi joined forces with the highly successful WRT team from Belgium. This was quite surprising, as Rossi's previous GT experience had taken place in conjunction with Ferrari and the manufacturer-affiliated team Kessel Racing. There was no shortage of people interested in working with the media-effective motorcycle star. Ultimately, it was WRT team boss Vincent Vosse personally who was able to convince Rossi of himself and the team.

In 2022, their alliance competed in the GT World Challenge, in which the WRT team had previously won several championship titles. For the 2023 season, WRT - and consequently also Rossi - changed the manufacturer and switched from Audi to BMW. As a result, Valentino Rossi was even included in the factory driver squad in Munich.

The starting of the 12 Hours Bathurst in February 2023 was one of his first official acts as a BMW works driver – and one of the biggest challenges. The elite GT3 factory drivers meet at the endurance race on the Mount Panorama Circuit. Some of them even rank the breathtaking circuit near Sydney above the Nürburgring Nordschleife.

On his Bathurst debut, Valentino Rossi had two strong partners at his side. Maxime Martin and Augusto Farfus formed the driver trio with the Italian. With his pace, Rossi didn't have to hide behind the two veterans and was always able to keep the BMW M4 GT3 close to the podium places in the middle of the race. However, the car later had to pit for repairs to the taillights and fell out of the lead lap. Rossi and his teammates ultimately finished sixth.

Minichamps now has the BMW M4 GT3 from Bathurst in its range as a model in scale 1:18. What is special is the combination of the BMW factory colors white, blue and red with the Rossi-typical bright yellow, in which the starting number 46 and parts of the exterior mirrors are colored.

BMW M4 GT3 #46 6th 12h Bathurst 2023 Farfus, Martin, Rossi 1:18 Minichamps, RRP €149,95, item-no.: 113232146