Motorsport legend Valentino Rossi has lightheartedly quipped that he “opened the door” for Max Verstappen to get into sports car racing.
Valentino Rossi expressed excitement about Max Verstappen’s foray into GT3 racing and jokingly suggested he paved the way for the F1 champion’s venture into endurance competition. Rossi, who retired from MotoGP in 2021 and transitioned to car racing, shared his enthusiasm for Verstappen’s GT3 endeavors during the GT World Challenge Europe season opener at Paul Ricard. The Italian legend humorously mentioned that he had “opened the door a little” and “cleared the way a bit” for Verstappen’s transition to GT3 racing. Rossi expressed delight in seeing Verstappen behind the wheel of such cars and mentioned his hope of sharing the track with him in the future. Both Rossi and Lance Stroll participated in the six-hour endurance race at Circuit Paul Ricard, with Rossi racing a BMW M4 GT3 for Team WRT alongside Daniel Harper and Max Hesse. Valentino Rossi’s successful transition to GT3 racing includes competing in the World Endurance Championship and securing victories at prestigious events like the Indianapolis 8 Hours.
