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Valentino Rossi

Rossi expected Verstappen to be exceptionally fast at Portimão

Archive photograph: Valentino Rossi · 2024-09-14Archive photo · 2024-09-14 · Morio · CC BY-SA 4.0

Ahead of the 17 October finale, Rossi expected Verstappen to be very fast but welcomed the chance to race him.

GPBeat · Newsroom20 Oct 2026, 20:25 · 1 min

Ahead of the 17 October GT World Challenge Europe finale at Portimão, MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi expected Max Verstappen to be exceptionally fast in the top Pro class. Rossi also described the prospect of racing the Formula 1 driver as fantastic.

Rossi said he had never imagined racing Verstappen and hoped to get the chance to follow him on track and see how he drove.

The pair were due to compete in the same Pro class: Rossi in a BMW M4 GT3 EVO for Team WRT, Verstappen in a Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO for Verstappen Racing. Verstappen, meanwhile, said he hoped not to see Rossi during the race. He wanted to be at the front and ideally see no one, while also calling the grid highly competitive and saying he was looking forward to the challenge.

Sources 01
  1. SOURCEValentino Rossi wary of Max Verstappen threat at Portimao: "Big problem"Motorsport.com F1

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