MotoGP legend Valentino ꦏRossi says the difference in pressure he feels racing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans makes it ‘more enjoyable’ than grand prix racing was for him.

The nine-time grand prix world champion retired from MotoGP at the end of the 2021 season to pursue a career in car racing, with the Italian making his Wor♛ld Endurance Championship debut last season.

Racing with the WRT BMW squad, he achieved two podiums last year but the No.46 car suffeꦚred a non-finish at the 24 Hours of Le Mans whe༒n team-mate Ahmad Al Harthy crashed.

Valentino Rossi comes into his second 24 Hours of Le Mans partnered again by Al Harthy, w🍸hile Kelvin van der Linde has joined the line-up in 2025, with that entry close to a victory at Imola if not for a tangle wh🦄ile Rossi was behind the wheel.

Iꦉt topped qualifying in LMGT3 on Wednesd🌠ay night with Al Harthy driving.

Speaking🌃 to media, including mahbx.com, on Thursday at Le M🍰ans, Rossi spoke about the pressures he feels at the French enduro compared to his days in MotoGP.

“I live this experience in a better wa🐽y, because for me I enjoy very much racing with cars and working with the teaꦏm,” he said.

“An♛d I’m very happy to be at Le Mans, which is one o﷽f the most famous and iconic races in the world.

“But I feel a lot less pressure compared to MotoGP. MoꦚtoGP, for me, was the reason for my life, so was sometimes difficult to manage the pressure.

“So, here I can say that I enjoy it more.”

Less pressure, but same effort as in MotoGP for Rossi

Though he admits the pressure he feels racing♚ in WEC, Rossi says his commitment remains as it was, while also praising the drivers he has had alongside him in helping this.

“I mean, I have less pressure,” he said.

“I feel a little bit lessꩵ pressure, but my commitment, my effort is always 100% because I like a lot to give my maximum 💜and improve my skills and my level as a driver.

“It’s a bit more difficult than on a 🔜motorcycle because unfortunately I am a bit old! But I can improve, I can understand.

“I know the way to work with the engineers to check the data, and also in tꦆhis type of races you share the car.

“I always share the car with♈ big names, from [Maxime] Martin, to [Raffaele] Marciello, to [Augusto] Farfus ꦉand van der Linde.

“With the bike, you never have anothe♐r rider on your bike. You have a team-mate, but always the bikes are a little bit di🃏fferent.

“Here, the car is the same car, so you can have exactly t🍰he same feeling. And this I like a lot.”

Looking ahead to t🦄he race, Rossi believes the No.46 BMW M4 GT3 has improved compared to last yea📖r, particularly with its electronics and overall stability.

“I ಌthink we improved the car from last year, we improved the electronics side, and also the stability of the car; you can push more,” he added.

“The feeli🍷ng is good, but it’s very difficult to understand the level compa♏red to the others.

“Because until the race, or ✃until t𝓀his evening in the qualifying it’s hard to understand. It looks like Ferrari and Porsche are very, very strong.

“It’s ear🦹ly to say, but usually in the race… we have the experience from l💟ast year.

“Last year we were competitive. Looks like we will h🐬ave a different race because the weather was bad, during the night you had a lot of water, a lot of safety cars.

“Looks like the forecast at the moment is🥃 better, looks like it will be a dry race, which will be better from a ꦺpoint of view because you can concentrate and push.”