Nine-time Grand Prix motorcycle racing champion Valentino Rossi will return to GT World Challenge Europe competition full-time in 2026, staying with Team WRT and BMW.
The MotoGP legend will share the #46 BMW M4 GT3 EVO with Max Hesse for the full ten-round campaign, with Dan Harper joining the crew for the Endurance Cup events.
Rossi last contested a complete GT World Challenge Europe season in 2023, with the Italian running part-time campaigns the past two years alongside his FIA World Endurance Championship effort. Rossi will not return to the FIA WEC in 2026, opening the door to a renewed focus on SRO’s headline European series.
The 46-year-old has scored three victories in GT World Challenge competition, with one win in each of the past three seasons at his home Sprint Cup round at Misano.
Hesse and Harper came through the BMW Junior Team programme together, and shared a Paul Miller Racing-run GTD PRO M4 GT3 Evo in last year’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship – winning the Michelin Endurance Cup title with wins at Watkins Glen and Road Atlanta.
The pair also contested GT World Challenge Europe’s Endurance Cup from 2022 to 2024, with BMW’s other works-supported team in the series, ROWE Racing, and won at Paul Ricard in 2024 alongside Augusto Farfus.
Hesse, who is set to make his Sprint Cup debut, last shared a car with Rossi at the 2023 Dubai 24 Hours, finishing third overall. Harper, meanwhile, has never raced with the Italian before.
The 2026 GT World Challenge Europe season begins at Circuit Paul Ricard on 11–12 April 2026. The #46 BMW will form part of a four-car effort from defending champion WRT this season, with the three additional crews set to be unveiled next month.
Images © SRO/JEP
