Broc Feeney has always loved MotoGP, but the Supercars star never thought he’d be lining up against one of the greatest two-wheel racers of all time.
Despite being almost 24 years apart in age and despite their careers belonging to different disciplines, for the fourth time in a row Feeney will share the Bathurst 12 Hour grid with motorcycling legend Valentino Rossi.
Rossi, a seven-time MotoGP champion with a record 89 premier-class grand prix victories, has made a name for himself in the four-wheel world since leaving motorcycle racing’s top category at the end of 2021.
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With endurance racing his focus, the Italian’s code switch has brought him regularly to Mount Panorama for the iconic Bathurst 12 Hour. He’s competed in a BMW for the last three seasons, culminating in a close second-place finish at last year’s event in a Team WRT one-two finish.
Though their careers are separated by epochs, Rossi’s prodigious pace in a car puts him in the same league as young gun Feeney.
Feeney is also a podium-getter at the Bathurst 12 Hour, and in 2024 he qualified on the front row, proving his raw speed in Supercars translates well to GT3 machinery.
With Rossi returning in an updated BMW M4 and Feeney in a Ford-backed Mustang entry, expectations are high for both at the Australian motorsport season opener.
It’s just another reason Feeney is excited for his sixth crack at the Bathurst 12 Hour as the event grows annually in stature, albeit with one key reservation.
“I’m a [Marc] Márquez fan, so I suppose there’s a bit of a rivalry there!” he says.
“I never thought I’d be racing Rossi. I’ve got to race against him the last couple of years, be on track with him and follow him and that — and he can drive a car very fast.
“It’s great. I’m stoked he’s coming out and getting more people to this event.”
Rossi’s two decades at the top of MotoGP earnt him legions of fans, many of whom have followed him across the category divide to cars in recent seasons.
Australia has always been partial to the Italian, who won the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix six times in the premier class, equalling the record set by Casey Stoner.
“It’s just awesome to see how many eyes he brings to the race and to the sport,” Feeney says. “The amount of yellow shirts getting around is fantastic.
“There’s a lot of fans getting around, and it’s good to see. But for me he’s just a normal guy that goes racing, and he loves his car racing. It’s cool.”
“More challenges behind the wheel” | 01:20
Though Rossi’s legendary career will forever revolve around his record-breaking success on bikes, the four-wheel life has always been of interest to the Italian, who has long held an entry into the 24 Horus of Le Mans as a dream.
During his motorcycling heyday, however, his car-racing experience was limited to the Monza Rally — an event he won seven times — and some outings with the Ferrari Formula 1 team as a development driver.
His four-wheel career started in earnest only as his two-wheel career ended, with his first serious race the 2021 Gulf 12 Hours in Bahrain, where he finished third in class and fourth overall as part of an all-Italian line-up in a Ferrari 488 GT3.
His follow-up season in 2022 was more challenging, making real the difficulties of his career change, but by 2023 he was back in the winners circle with victories at his home track in Misano and also at Le Mans, albeit both in sprint races. He also improved to second the Gulf 12 Hours in a season that featured regular podiums.
The 2023 season was also his first visit to Mount Panorama.
The Bathurst 12 Hour is a neat demonstration of the 46-year-old’s gradual but relentless improvement on four wheels.
Linking up with established Team WRT, he finished sixth on debut, improved to fifth in 2024 and last year stepped onto the podium with co-drivers Raffaele Marciello and Charles Weerts — and in fact could have won the race were it not for a costly drive-through penalty.
He stepped onto the top step of the podium by the end of the Intercontinental GT Challenge season, however, winning the Indianapolis 8 Hour last October with co-drivers Weerts and Kelvin van der Linde.
He arrives in Bathurst, then, as the last winner in the series and looking to go one better than last year’s near miss.
“I’m really looking forward to returning to Bathurst,” he said. “It’s one of the best races of the season. The track is fantastic. When I started racing, Bathurst was at the top of my wish list.
“Now I’ve been here three times and enjoy it every time. Last year the race went great and we finished second. The podium is the goal again this time.”
But he’ll have to go through Feeney and Australia’s other home-grown drivers first to get there.
“There are some big names always, and I know for me — I can’t speak for the others — when the Euros come out here, you want to show them that we can drive all right Down Under,” Feeney says.
The Bathurst 12 Hour is on this weekend, with the race getting underway at 5:45am on Sunday.
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