ENGINES
Valentino Rossi will be racing at Le Mans: fans in celebration for the Doctor
Since his farewell to MotoGP in 2021, motorcycling's Valentino Rossi has never been far from the racetracks, even if he has been favouring four-wheelers over two-wheelers lately. Rossi himself will be one of the protagonists in the week leading up to the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The Doctor has in fact signed up for the Road to Le Mans, also known as the Michelin Le Mans Cup, a side event to the 24 Hours and will be held from 7 to 9 June. Inaugurated in 2016, the format includes two 55-minute races, in which GT3 and LMP3 cars can participate together.
This is in anticipation of Rossi's possible actual participation in the 24 Hours next year.
Valentino Rossi will be at the 24 Hours: "The Doctor" competing in the Michelin Le Mans Cup
Since his farewell to MotoGP in 2021, motorcycling's Valentino Rossi has never been far from the racetracks, even if he has been favouring four-wheelers over two-wheelers lately. Rossi himself will be one of the protagonists in the week leading up to the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Vale won't exactly be running the 24 Hours of Le Mans
The nine-time MotoGP World Champion (and the only one to win in four different categories) will not actually race the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the world's most famous endurance race, but has signed up for the Michelin Le Mans Cup. This way, he will also get to know the particular track (called Circuit de La Sarthe) well ahead of 2024, where he may be driving one of BMW's hypercars in the WEC championship.
The Michelin Le Mans Cup
The race in which Valentino Rossi will take part will be held from 7 to 9 June (the 24 Hours will be on the 10th, Saturday). This format started in 2016 and comprises two races of 55 minutes each, in which both GT3 and LMP3 cars can participate. In addition, two free practice sessions and two qualifying sessions have been reserved. Each car will be driven by a crew of two drivers. Driver change is compulsory in the two races.
Valentino Rossi's team
A total of 58 cars (20 in the GT3 category and the remaining 38 in the LM P3) will take part in the Le Mans Cup. Valentino Rossi will be at the wheel of the WRT BMW M4 Team paired with Frenchman Jerome Policand (58). The Doctor will sit in the second driver's seat. Other racing teams will be Aston Martin Vantage, Porsche 911, Lamborghini Huracan, Audi R8, Ferrari 296, Honda NSX and Mercedes AMG.
The full schedule of the Le Mans Cup
Wednesday, 7 June: 11.30 am Free Practice 1; 8.30 pm Free Practice 2. Thursday, 8 June: 12.55 pm Qualifying 1; 1.30 pm Qualifying 2; 6.30 pm Race 1. Friday, 9 June: 11.30 am Race 2.
The Le Mans racetrack
As of 2017, the total length is 13,626 metres, making it one of the longest tracks in the world. The special feature of the circuit is that it uses both portions of departmental roads (the D338 and D139) that are open to vehicle traffic, and a part of the Bugatti circuit. The most famous parts of the track are the Dunlop, Esse de la Foret, Tertre Rouge, Mulsanne, Indianapolis, Arnage and Porsche curves and, above all, the Hunaudières straight.
It will be the centenary of Le Mans
This 2023 marks the centenary of the first 24 Hours of Le Mans. The first race took place on 26 and 27 May 1923 and has been held annually in June ever since, with the exceptions of 1956 (in July), 1968 (in September, due to the political turmoil in May in France), 2020 (on 19 and 20 September) and 2021 (on 21 and 22 August; the latter two editions postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic). It was only cancelled in 1936, for economic reasons, and from 1940 to 1948 due to World War II and the immediate post-war period.
Valentino Rossi: how long from Valencia 2021
It seems an eternity since the Doctor's last race, the last of the 2021 season in the Valencian Community Grand Prix. Rossi's last season, riding a Yamaha Petronas, was the worst of Vale's career, ending sadly in 18th place in the standings.
Rossi's passion for racing cars
For over 20 years now, even during his MOTOGP career, Valentino has dabbled in racing cars. Rossi competed in a round of the 2002 World Rally Championship in a Peugeot 206 WRC, and between 2004 and 2006 he was involved in a few F1 tests (his move to Ferrari was in the air, but failed). Immediately after retiring from MotoGP, he started racing in road and endurance competitions, another of the Doctor's great passions.
One of the best pilots of all time
Valentino Rossi is, to this day, one of the strongest and most successful riders ever, and probably the most popular and loved of them all. In his career on two wheels, he has been able to conquer no less than 9 world championships (1 in 125, 1 in 250, 1 in 500 and no less than 6 in MotoGP, including four consecutive ones between 2001 and 2005). A legend at Yamaha and Honda, he has only failed at Ducati, where he failed to bring the title back to Borgo Panigale after Stoner 2007 (something that succeeded Pecco Bagnaia in the 2022 MotoGP championship).
OTHER SPORTS.
21/04/2024
There are so many sports disciplines in which people jump. In addition to athletics, in which jumps are divided into four categories (long, high, triple, and pole vaulting), many sportsmen and women excel in real flights, for example, with skis and snowboards, but also with cars, motorcycles, bicycles, and....parachutes.
Man has always dreamed, after all, of flying, and this is one of the most direct ways to experience that feeling of freedom that humans have been chasing for centuries.
The magazine Forbes has grouped together 10 of the longest leaps made by athletes in history. Some of them are truly impressive.
OTHER SPORTS.
19/04/2024
What is the most exhausting sport in the world?
According to a research promoted by ESPN, a US television station entirely dedicated to sport, the discipline that implies a greater overall effort of our body, thus being the most tiring ever (as well as one of those that involves the greatest risk of serious injuries), is boxing.
The study took into account, for each discipline analyzed, multiple parameters including strength, endurance, speed, agility and coordination required in the race, to be related to the average expenditure of energy, both physical and mental.