The driver from Pesaro makes his debut in a sprint race at the wheel of the Wrt team’s Audi R8 Lms GT3 Evo II, shared with the Belgian Frédéric Vervisch: two hour-long tests. “An old school track, with many blind spots, really fantastic” says Valentino
Giulio Masperi
– Milan
First sprint race with GT3 class cars and first time on the British circuit of Brands Hatch. Valentino Rossi returns to the wheel of his Audi R8 Lms Evo II of the Wrt team for the second round of the GT World Challenge Europe championship, the first entered in the Sprint Cup. After his debut in Imola, in the first weekend of April, the pilot from Pesaro back in the spotlight: Saturday 30 April free practice and qualifying, Sunday 1 May two races (at 12.25 and 17.45, Italian time; here the program and times) sharing the car with fellow Belgian Frédéric Vervisch. “These are my first sprint races, on a difficult, technical track, with several blind spots and an old school layout. Targets? To finish in the top ten ”said Valentino on the eve of the British match.
VALENTINO ROSSI AT BRANDS HATCH
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How did Valentino prepare for the double race at Brands Hatch? “Unfortunately, during the winter we were unable to do any tests on this track – said the 43-year-old from Pesaro -, but we worked a lot on the simulator, a very important tool with which I have a lot of fun organizing sessions with friends and colleagues, trying to challenge each other. The simulator is very realistic and helps me a lot, for example in finding the best lines “. After his debut in the GT World Challenge Europe championship with the Endurance Cup, on the occasion of the 3 Hours of Imola, where a mistake when returning to the pit lane during the pit stop influenced the final result of the “Doctor”, Rossi analyzes the peculiarities of the English track that hosts the second act of the series. “Here you have to work very well in the pit stop in order not to waste time. The track has a new asphalt and for the characteristics, such as the blind spots, it takes several laps to fully understand all the secrets. I have a great team with mates from whom I will be able to learn a lot during the season, race after race “.
THE GOALS IN ENGLAND
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Compared to the Imola endurance race, which saw over 50 cars at the start, the second round of the Fanatec GT World Challenge, at Brands Hatch (“With MotoGP we have always raced in Donington or Silverstone, but I think this old school track would be very also interesting for motorcycles “), represents the first round (of five) of the Sprint Cup. 26 cars entered. What are the goals of the nine-time world champion in the world championship? “There are fewer cars here, but the top 15 are of the highest level – said Rossi -. Let’s try to stay in the top 10 in the race, this could be my goal, knowing that it won’t be easy. We are only at the beginning of the season and I need to improve race after race. We hope that the weather will remain good on Sunday and that we will be able to compete on a dry track in front of a beautiful public setting, as I expect, knowing that in England there are a lot of GT racing fans ”.
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