Valentino Rossi Is Back in GT World Challenge Europe for 2026

Motorcycle racing legend and BMW M Motorsport works driver Valentino Rossi has confirmed that he will return to GT World Challenge Europe (GTWCE) competition with Team WRT in the 2026 season. He’ll run in both the shorter Sprint Cup rounds as well as the Endurance Cup, which are headlined by the Spa 24 Hour race.

Rossi’s return to GTWCE competition comes after spending the last two years competing with Team WRT and BMW in the FIA World Endurance Championship. He’s contested GTWCE before, as he competed in the 2023 Sprint Cup races where he finished fifth in the points, as well as single races like the Spa 24 Hour, where he finished eleventh last year with René Rast and Kevin Magnussen.

Rossi will be joined in 2026 by two young guns, with Max Hesse partnering with Rossi for all races, and Dan Harper joining them for the longer Endurance Cup rounds. Former BMW Junior Team drivers Hesse and Harper drove together for the Paul Miller Racing team in IMSA last year and won the Michelin Endurance Cup championship. Neil Verhagen and Connor De Phillippi will be the full season drivers in the Paul Miller program, which has gone from two entries in 2025 to one this year, as Hesse and Harper join Rossi in GTWCE. Both Harper and Hesse have previous experience in GTWCE.

Rossi is looking forward to getting back to GTWCE. “I’m very happy because it’s a championship I did at the beginning of my car racing career,” he told Sky Sport Italia. “Then, for the last two years, I did the WEC, but I decided to switch because GT World Challenge is in Europe and the races are closer together, while WEC is often outside Europe. I would have to take planes and make intercontinental trips, and with my two girls and a family at home, you have to be on the road for a lot of days. It was a bit of a choice, but I’m very happy because the GT World Challenge is fun. I’m happy because I feel good in this championship.”

Rossi also confirmed that he’s renewed his contract as a BMW M Motorsport works driver for another three years. BMW and Team WRT will come into the 2026 GTWCE season as defending champions. Kelvin van der Linde and Charles Weerts won the Sprint Cup and overall championship (which combines points from Sprint Cup and Endurance Cup races) in 2025. We’re expecting additional BMW entries in GTWCE besides Rossi, Hesse and Harper. The official test days prior to the start of the season take place at Paul Ricard in France on April 8th-9th, so we’ll know by then what the final entry list will look like.

—David Haueter
[Photos by David Haueter, courtesy SRO