First Look: Livery for Valentino Rossi’s 2026 Bathurst 12 Hours revealed

WRT has revealed the livery that Valentino Rossi and his team-mates will race with at this weekend’s Bathurst 12 Hours, marking the start of the MotoGP legend’s 2026 season.

The nine-time grand prix motorcycle world champion announced late last year that he would be returning to Mount Panorama to face the iconic Bathurst 12 Hours again in 2026.

Valentino Rossi and the crew of the No.46 BMW M4 GT3 Evo drove to second in the race last year, as they completed a WRT 1-2.

For the 2026 edition, Rossi will team up with last year’s winner Augusto Farfus and reunite with 2025 Bathurst team-mate Raffaele Marciello.

Ahead of the event this weekend, WRT has revealed the livery the No.46 car will race with.

“After taking a dominant 1-2 finish between them at last year’s Bathurst 12 Hour, Augusto Farfus, Raffaele Marciello and Valentino Rossi team up to conquer the mountain this weekend,” a post from the team read.

“This marks the first Bathurst outing for the No.46 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, a car that has already claimed multiple victories worldwide with the Belgian squad.

“Can the EVO repeat the results of its predecessor in Australia?”

Rossi announced earlier this year that he has signed a three-year extension with BMW to remain one of its factory drivers.

For 2026, he will embark on a full campaign in the GT World Challenge Europe in both the sprint and endurance rounds.

It marks his first full season in the series since 2024, when he twinned it with his first campaign in the FIA World Endurance Championship.

Despite podium success in two years of the WEC, BMW and WRT announced last year that Rossi would not be returning to its LMGT3 line-up in 2026.

In the 2026 GTWCE, Rossi will be joined in the No.46 BMW by Dan Harper for all rounds, as well as Max Hesse for the endurance events.

The duo got their 2026 season off to a winning start at the IMSA SportsCar Championship opener at the Daytona 24 Hours, as they triumphed in the GTD Pro class.

Dan Harper has previously spoken of his childhood admiration for Rossi, and said during the Daytona weekend that “it’s very special” to be his team-mate now.

During the recent 2026 MotoGP season launch event in Kuala Lumpur, VR46 team boss Pablo Nieto confirmed that Rossi will have a presence in the paddock at select events this year.