Valentino Rossi GT3 race car blasts past estimates in recent auction

The BMW M4 GT3 car that MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi raced at the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the first time has sold at auction well above its estimated price tag.

The nine-time grand prix motorcycle world champion stepped into full-time car racing at the end of his MotoGP career, which he called time on in 2021.

Partnering with WRT for a campaign in the GT World Challenge Europe, Valentino Rossi has since progressed into the FIA World Endurance Championship with the squad.

A BMW M4 GT3 raced by Rossi with WRT from 2023 to the start of 2025 went up for sale at an RM Sotheby’s auction in Munich last weekend.

The car, with chassis number 22-046 and featuring Rossi’s iconic No.46 on the livery, was offered for sale directly from BMW M Motorsport.

In that car, Rossi won the Road to Le Mans, a Misano victory in GTWCE as well as two other podiums in the series, a fourth in his 2024 WEC debut in Qatar and a brace of podiums at Imola and Fuji. He also raced it at his first 24 Hours of Le Mans.

It won its final race at the Bathurst 12 Hours in 2025, with 22-046 offered for sale in this spec as an end-of-race example.

The livery was sealed in a special lacquer to maintain the blemishes and battle scars of that victory for Rossi alongside Maxime Martin and Raffele Marciello.

A veteran challenger of 27 races, the car was estimated to fetch between €435,000 and €485,000 at auction in Munich last Sunday.

However, the car sold for a massive €646,250 (£561,480).

Rossi continues to race with WRT in BMW machinery in the FIA WEC, as well as select endurance events on the GT calendar.

Last weekend, Rossi partnered with WEC team-mate Kelvin van der Linde and Charles Weerts to win the eight-hour race at Indianapolis.

The race, which was the final round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge, was heavily impacted by poor weather.

The No.46 car sprung into the lead in the final 90 minutes of running after a canny pit strategy call, with Rossi scoring his first win at Indianapolis since the 2008 MotoGP race held at the venue.

His racing season concludes in early November with the final WEC round of 2025 in Bahrain.