Smiling Valentino Rossi jokes about love for Yamaha M1

MotoGP-to-sportscar-racing convert Valentino Rossi has cheekily said that his favourite race car is the Yamaha M1.

In a round of rapid-fire questions with the World Endurance Championship, current BMW factory driver Rossi was asked to name his favourite car of all time.

Over the decades, the Italian got to sample a wide variety of four-wheel machinery, including Ferrari Formula 1 cars from the mid-2000s and a Mercedes-AMG DTM car. More recently, he tested the BMW M Hybrid V8 LMDh prototype at the Bahrain International Circuit in November, 2024.

However, in response to that question on the WEC’s ‘Go the Distance Challenge’, the 46-year-old simply replied “Motorbike, Yamaha M1”.

The M1 was, of course, the bike with which Rossi won four of his seven premier class titles. 

He first joined Yamaha in 2004 and spent the remainder of his MotoGP career with the Iwata-based brand, barring an ill-fated two-year stint with Ducati in the early 2010s.

During his time with Yamaha, there were often whispers about Rossi switching to other forms of motorsport, including potentially joining F1, but it was only after he retired from MotoGP in 2021 that he transitioned to sportscar racing.

While Rossi will always be remembered for his success in MotoGP, the Italian stated that his career goal at the moment is to “win at the WEC”

The Italian is currently in the midst of his sophomore campaign in the WEC’s LMGT3 division with the BMW-affiliated WRT team.

Sharing WRT’s #46 BMW M4 GT3 with Kelvin van der Linde and Ahmad Al Marthy as the designated silver-rated driver in the line-up, he finished just outside the points in 11th in last month's Qatar season opener.

Rossi also said the most fun part about his job is “driving or riding”.