WRT names Rossi, VDL bros in two-car 12-Hour attack

VALENTINO ROSSI is back.

The MotoGP legend has been confirmed today as part of Team WRT’s two-car squad as they return to contest the Meguiar’s Bathurst 12 Hour for the third time as a BMW team.

Rossi will lead the way in Car #46 with Belgian Charles Weerts and former Allan Simonsen Pole Award winner Raffaele Marciello alongside.

The Italian, who will compete full-time in the FIA World Endurance Championship this year with WRT, made his Bathurst debut in 2023 and made an immediate impact both on track and off.

The sister #32 car will see long-time BMW ace Augusto Farfus joined by South African brothers, Kelvin and Sheldon van der Linde, who will compete together for the first time as BMW drivers.

Kelvin, who finished third last year, is a recent addition to BMWs factory stable while it was his brother Sheldon who scored pole on the Mountain last year.

Kelvin's five Bathurst starts have always produced something spectacular but it was 2024 that delivered his first podium. Brother Sheldon finished fourth on debut in 2023, having claimed a maiden DTM title the year prior.

Farfus makes his fifth Bathurst start this year, having finished fifth in the 2019 race as part of a team that included Chaz Mostert.

Marciello has been a regular star performer on the Mountain and claimed the Allan Simonsen Pole Award in 2019.

His five starts have netted a remarkable run of top six finishes, the Swiss ace finishing 2nd (2018), 3rd (2019 & 2023), 5th in 2024 and 6th in 2020.

With a strong mixture of experience, raw speed and local knowledge, the pair of Pro class entries offer the Belgian team their best shot yet at scoring BMWs first outright victory in Australia’s International Enduro, having come close on several occasions.

Team WRT won the Bathurst classic in 2018 while representing Audi and then returned in 2023 with their pair of now popular BMW M4 GT3 entries.

After finishing fourth and sixth in 2023, the team returned to score pole and lead the early laps of the 2024 race – the #46 entry running as high as third in the closing stages before slipping to fifth at the line, while the sister car crashed out at half-distance.

This story updates..