High-profile showdown in Portimão: Valentino Rossi takes on Max Verstappen

This coming weekend sees the season finale of the world’s largest GT3 racing series, the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup. The race will take place at the undulating Autódromo Internacional do Algarve circuit in southern Portugal.

During the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen confirmed that he would be competing in the Algarve. This year, Verstappen has already completed several GT3 outings on the Nürburgring Nordschleife and was in contention for overall victory in the 24-hour race until Sunday lunchtime, before being hampered by a mechanical failure.

One of Max Verstappen’s rivals in Portugal will be nine-time motorcycling world champion Valentino Rossi, a BMW works rider since 2023.

Rossi has now told Italian Sky: “It’s going to be fabulous, but at the same time Max Verstappen is going to be a huge problem because the bloke is just so incredibly fast.”

“I never would have dreamt that one day I’d be racing against Max Verstappen. It’s brilliant for everyone that he’s competing in Portugal, and I hope I can tag along behind him and learn as much as possible from him.”

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Verstappen on Rossi: “Valentino’s a cool bloke”

This means Verstappen is on a run of seven consecutive race weekends: Baku, Sepang and Singapore in Formula 1, now GT3, followed immediately by Texas, Mexico and Brazil.

Max is also looking forward to it: “Valentino’s a cool bloke, and I hope we can spend a bit of time together. In the race, though, I’d rather not have him anywhere near me. If it were up to me, I’d like a nice, solitary race at the front.”

“But I know how good the drivers in this series are, so I’m bracing myself for a lot of stiff competition.”

“GT3 is so very different from Formula 1, but I love it. I got a taste for it on the Nordschleife, and the Portimão circuit is marvellous. I want to enjoy every lap. But I also want to win.”