Verstappen hopes to chat with Rossi, but not see him during Portimão race

Max Verstappen is looking forward to catching up with Valentino Rossi at the GT World Challenge Europe finale in Portimão—but hopes not to see him during the race. He wants to be near the front, he said, and not seeing Rossi would usually be a good sign.

Rossi, a seven-time MotoGP world champion, is set to share the Pro-class grid with Verstappen for the first time. Verstappen will drive a Mercedes-AMG GT3 entered by 2 Seas Motorsport under Team Verstappen Racing, with Chris Lulham as his teammate; Rossi will be in WRT’s factory BMW M4 GT3.

Verstappen gained GT3 experience at the Nürburgring 24 Hours earlier this year. He, Gounon, Juncadella and Lucas Auer fought for the win before a technical problem disrupted their challenge. Verstappen says he enjoys GT3 despite its differences from Formula 1, and describes the Portimão grid as highly competitive.