Valentino Rossi passes on McLaren’s Indy 500 seat, Ryan Hunter-Reay steps in

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Zak Brown earlier this year teased he was working on a “mega” signing for McLaren’s fourth Indianapolis 500 seat and that it was up to the mystery driver if he wanted to enter the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”

Valentino Rossi, the nine-time Grand Prix motorcycle racing champion, ultimately passed on the opportunity. The seat instead went to Ryan Hunter-Reay, the 2014 Indy 500 winner, in a deal announced last week.

Brown, CEO of McLaren Racing, told The Associated Press on Friday he had multiple conversations with the Italian and that Rossi “absolutely loves and respects the Indy 500” but ultimately decided he had to focus on his current job racing in the World Endurance Championship. The superstar commonly referred to as “The Doctor” currently races a BMW for Team WRT in WEC’s LMGT3 class.

“I spoke with Valentino, he loves the Indy 500, he loves big events, is up for oval racing,” Brown told AP at the Las Vegas Grand Prix. “But he is pretty focused on WEC and just wants that to be his priority. He recognized the level of commitment required and concluded he probably couldn’t do WEC and Indy properly, so we’ll keep talking.”

Brown has made a splash with his Indy 500 one-off drivers, from F1 world champion Fernando Alonso, two-time Indy 500 winner Juan Pablo Montoya and two-time NASCAR champion Kyle Larson, who ran at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for McLaren the last two seasons as he attempted to complete the IndyCar-NASCAR vaunted “Double” of running both events on the same day.

Brown was determined to draw another huge spotlight to one of the biggest races in the world and thought Rossi would be a stunning signing in the motorsports world.

Rossi is considered one of the greatest motorcycle racers ever and is the only road racer to have competed in 400 or more Grand Prixs. Seven of his nine world championships came in the 500cc/MotoGP class and Rossi holds the record for most premier class victories (89) and podiums (199).

Unable to land Rossi, Brown turned to Hunter-Reay, a longtime IndyCar veteran with both an Indy 500 victory and an IndyCar title on his resume.

Hunter-Reay stepped away from full-time racing following the 2021 season but has run the Indy 500 the last three seasons, finishing 11th in 2023. Hunter-Reay is also a two-time runner-up at Indy.

Asked why he chose Hunter-Reay when Rossi fell through, Brown told AP, “because he can win.”

___

AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports

___

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing