Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Rossi to be joined by Muller, Vervisch in WRT GTWCE squad

Valentino Rossi’s team-mates in his first full season of car racing with the WRT Audi squad in the GT World Challenge Europe will be Nico Muller and Frederic Vervisch.

Valentino Rossi, Team WRT, Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo

Valentino Rossi, Team WRT, Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo

Audi Sport

The seven-time MotoGP champion will be joined aboard an Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II by 2019 Nurburgring 24 Hours winner Vervisch in all 10 Endurance and Sprint Cup rounds of the series.

Multiple DTM race winner Muller, also winner at the Nurburging enduro in 2015, will come in alongside them in the Pro class entry for the five-race endurance leg of the championship, which includes the Spa 24 Hours in July.

The team-mates for Rossi are both Audi factory drivers, as the team promised when it announced his assault on the GTWCE last month.

The Audi Rossi will drive this year will be formally unveiled on Monday afternoon at the official GTWCE test at Paul Ricard and he will then drive the car that will carry his traditional 46 race number on the second day of the test on Tuesday.

It will be the latest outing in an intensive test programme for Rossi as he gears up for his move onto four wheels full-time after retiring from MotoGP at the end of last season.

WRT has announced its full roster of drivers for a five-car GTWCE assault as it defends the overall crown won last year by Dries Vanthoor and Charles Weerts, as well as four other titles.

Team boss Vincent Vosse said: “We are very happy to announce such a great driver line-up for the 2022 GTWCE season. Putting it together has required time and effort, but I am fully satisfied with the outcome and I would like to thank all partners for their support.

Valentino Rossi, Team WRT, Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo

Valentino Rossi, Team WRT, Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo

Photo by: Audi Sport

“It will be a season of challenges, as to retain five titles and field five cars is certainly demanding, but we are very excited to take up challenges of this kind.

“I am happy to welcome to the WRT family some new faces but also pleased to retain long-standing friends.”

WRT’s line-up includes a further one Pro class entry in the Endurance Cup and two in the Sprint Cup.

Vanthoor and Weerts will defend their overall crown and Sprint Cup title together and will be joined by fellow factory driver Kelvin van der Linde for the long races.

Christopher Mies will drive the third Pro car in the Sprints together with Porsche Carrera Cup France graduate Jean-Baptiste Simmenauer.

WRT will enter two Audis in the Silver Cup class in the enduros and one in the new Gold Cup pro-am class.

The three Pro cars in the Sprints will be joined by two Silver Cup entries.

Full WRT GTWCE line-up

Endurance Cup

Car #30 Benjamin Goethe (DE) – Thomas Neubauer (FR) – Jean-Baptiste Simmenauer
(FR) - Silver Cup
Car #31 Diego Menchaca (MX) – Lewis Proctor (GB) – Finlay Hutchison (GB) Silver Cup
Car #32 Kelvin van der Linde (ZA) – Dries Vanthoor (BE) – Charles Weerts (BE) Pro
Car #33 Ryuichiro Tomita (JP) – Arnold Robin (FR) – Maxime Robin (FR) Gold Cup
Car #46 :Nico Müller (CH) – Frédéric Vervisch (BE) – Valentino Rossi (IT) Pro

Sprint Cup

Car #30 Benjamin Goethe (DE) – Thomas Neubauer (FR) Silver Cup
Car #31 Finlay Hutchison (GB) – TBC Silver Cup
Car #32 Dries Vanthoor (BE) – Charles Weerts (BE) Pro
Car #33 Christopher Mies (DE) – Jean-Baptiste Simmenauer (FR) Pro
Car #46 Frédéric Vervisch (BE) – Valentino Rossi (IT) Pro

Be part of the Autosport community

Join the conversation

Related video

Previous article Bathurst 12 Hour to be Pro-Am event in 2022, GT3 Pro class dropped
Next article The remarkable career of a 'classy' champion who rejected politics

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe