Multiple MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi has dabbled with four-wheels in the past both on and off-road, but this season he is preparing for a full-time season in GT World Challenge Europe, the worlds most competitive GT series.
Rossi, who recently welcomed a baby girl, will race a Team WRT Audi R8 LMS GT3 featuring his famous #46 at events including the 24 Hours of Spa this year in what is a more than 50-entry strong field.
Pre-season testing was just completed at Paul Ricard where the former two-wheel star completed considerable running in the new evo II specification Audi.
“It was a good day of testing and it was also the first time we did tests all together so we could have a better reference,” Rossi said.
“We have worked a lot on the car and the set-ups, and of course, there are areas that we need to work on and improve, but the feeling is good.
“The track is not new for me; however, I haven’t been driving here for more than 20 years, so I needed to find a little bit of the way, but in the end, it was a good day.”
Rossi’s fastest time was only four-tenths off the Audis best all day at a 1m 54.735s.
Rossi will begin his campaign at Imola for a three-hour endurance event on April 3 where he is teamed with factory Audi drivers Frederic Vervisch and Nico Muller.