BMW impressed by Valentino Rossi: boss reveals his future

BMW motorsport manager Andreas Roos on Valentino Rossi: “We don’t see him as a marketing tool, but as a valuable racing driver”

BMW’s head of motorsport, Andrea Roos, in an interview with Motorsport.com was enthusiastic about the arrival of Valentino Rossi, who will drive a BMW M4 GT3 in the GT World Challenge next year with the WRT team. “He would not try a BMW if he was not with us next year,” Roos assured, “We can say that we are sure he will be sitting in a BMW with the WRT team next season. Neither the WRT team nor we see him as a marketing tool, but as a valuable racing driver.”

The Tavullia rider’s progress has been evident this year: “Of course for us it’s a nice bonus, we will generate a lot of interest outside, but on the sporting side he has shown that he is gradually increasing his speed, he is not behind, so for us it’s a win-win situation.”

At BMW, they are impressed with his first real year as a rider on four wheels: “Just by the fact that he went from two wheels to four wheels, he did a great performance, we were surprised at his level. Becoming a MotoGp world champion doesn’t happen by accident, it takes a lot of hard work, you do it over the years, and you’re able to transfer that even when you move to four wheels.”