After Valentino Rossi’s test in a BMW M Hybrid V8 Hypercar at the Bahrain rookie test, the day after the season-ending FIA World Endurance Championship 8 Hours of Bahrain, he told media that he believes the Hypercar is more suited to his driving style.
‘It's faster,’ said the 9-time motorcycle world champion when The Racing Line asked how similar the car was to a bike.
‘So when you have more horsepower, you have to do also different line. And also like I said with the GT, you are always on the kerb, you always cut. So at the beginning when I arrived and I make normal line like motorcycle, everybody say where you go.
‘You are two metre, I say but the track is there. Yeah but with the GT you don't have to stay on the track. You have to cut everything.
‘So it's another way to drive. This one is more similar to to a bike. Yeah. And also, the speed is higher, but at the same time you have also more grip, so it's very good,’ he finished.
Encountering GT traffic, and his fast lap
This was also Rossi’s first time with slower on-track traffic, having to navigate his way past GT cars, which he raced only yesterday in the 8 hour event.
‘When you are a GT driver, you are always angry with the Hypercar drivers because you think ‘you push me out, you push, you’re close,” he said, laughing and indicating with his hands what happens when a Hypercar driver overtakes a GT car.
‘But today, I understand more from the other side. To have two different categories in the same moment is always difficult, but now I understand also the other side.’
Phil Oakley
Rossi’s fastest lap time was a 1:50.577, set in the afternoon session on medium tyres. This put him around a second off the fastest time of the day, a 1:49.566 set by Earl Bamber in the #2 Cadillac V-Series.R.
‘I was a little bit unlucky because I had two set [of new medium tyres]’ he said.
‘I think that with the second set that you can improve, but the first set I have a red flag. And after the second set, when I push, I had the traffic of the GT3. So I tried to overtake, but I spun.
‘So when they say it's over because usually you destroy, flat spot, damage the tyre. But luckily, it was good. So I restart and I make another lap and I make 50.5,’ the Italian explained.
A ‘proper race car’
Rossi also commented on the car’s lack of ABS, and how he felt that suited him.
‘I have a good feeling with the car from from the beginning. I feel good because the car have a lot of horsepower, but you have a good feedback,” he told the gathered journalists, including The Racing Line.
‘When you drive, you can understand the car. It's very sensitive, and also the braking without the ABS, I like a lot. It's a lot better for sure.
Phil Oakley
‘Sometimes you did some mistake but, it’s something that you can adapt more to your style, because when you have the ABS, you arrive at one point and after is ABS.
‘So I like this better, and also it is a proper race car. So it's more precise, it's more stiff and you have a lot of aero. In the braking is quite impressive, and also, the engine is faster. I like, I enjoy very much,” he concluded, with a big smile on his face.
Valentino Rossi gallery from the rookie test. Images: Charly Lopez / DPPI
Download The Racing Line, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 100 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.