Team WRT have announced that Darren Leung and Anthony McIntosh will fill the mandatory Bronze driver seats in their 2026 FIA WEC LMGT3 entries, but this move might spell the end of Valentino Rossi's tenure in the world championship.
The Italian, who has four podiums from 16 LMGT3 starts, might be forced to move programmes within the GT3 world as the 'silver seats' at WRT are likely filled by incoming drivers.
Who are the drivers in the Bronze spaces? Former GT World Challenge Europe Bronze Sprint Cup champion Darren Leung returns to the BMW fold after a season with McLaren and United Autosport, a year which saw the British driver tally his second class victory at the rain-soaked 6H COTA.
No car number is confirmed, but Leung previously ran in the #31, the number appearing on the 2025 #46 chassis at the WEC Rookie Test.
The new American addition is Anthony McIntosh who made waves in the LMGT3 paddock on his mid-season arrival in the Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin with consecutive class poles at Sao Paulo and Fuji.
A double Am Champion in the Lamborghini SuperTrofeo North America and a former Am champion in the Italian GT Sprint championship, the 50-year-old will tackle his first full WEC season in 2026, but gathered valuable time behind the wheel of an WRT M4 GT3 EVO at the Rookie Test.
Why does this leave no spaces for Rossi? It's commonplace in the GT world for Bronze drivers to find a quick, coaching Silver driver that together, the pair can progress up the ranks.
Leung and McIntosh are exactly those types of Bronze drivers. Leung's two-season LMGT3 stint has been alongside Sean Gelael, with the duo twice scoring class honours.When Leung was without a co-driver in the 2024 GT World Challenge Europe round at Barcelona, he phoned his favourite Indonesian to fill the seat.
For McIntosh, his relationship with Parker Thompson is yet to reach the highs of tasting World Championship champagne, but it isn't lacking commitment.
The silver-rated Canadian recently ended his relationship with Toyota/Lexus, potentially in preparation for a move to Team WRT, and alongside his IMSA GTD driver has been coaching McIntosh to Porsche Cup and GT4 America titles over the last two years
Given the close ties, and the nature of these Bronze-Silver relationships, Gelael and Thompson are firm favourites to get the call-up.
If those dominoes fall that will leave Rossi out of a seat, and that might just be the best thing for him.
The WEC programme hasn't quite produced the results that the Italian and his team would have been hoping for, with the 2025 Imola pole the one true standout alongside his back-to-back second places at his home venue.
There remains a hauntingly empty space in the trophy cabinet for a Le Mans winner's trophy.
But if you are to look past the stature of the man, his performances place him in the bottom half of his Silver rivals. There's no doubt Rossi's qualifying appearances were solid, averaging P6 in the six LMGT3 Hyperpole sessions the #46 competed in, including a mesmeric P3 at the 24H Le Mans against a host of GT stars.
But it's in the races where Rossi's averages leave him vulnerable, according to data from The B Pillar Rossi was the 16th fastest Silver across the eight WEC races.
In a category where, alongside the Platinum/Gold the Silver driver must do a pretty hefty share of the legwork, this has left the #46 fighting back into contention late on in races.
This isn't to say that The Doctor's performance in LMGT3 is the sole reason for his expected departure, but it must loom over a sportsperson with the undying competitive aspirations of a nine-time world champion.
The most likely move for the 46-year-old would be a return to GT World Challenge Europe. It's a somewhat humorous statistic that Rossi has won more races in the series whilst being full-time in WEC, than he did when it was his primary programme.
At the end of last year there were aspirations for the Italian to make the step up the ladder and into a BMW M Hybrid V8 LMDh, but the likelihood of that looks to have rapidly cooled despite a continued push from Rossi to make it happen.
A return to Europe offers him proximity to his family, and a genuine shot at championship honours.
He still can chase victory at a major 24 hour race, taking on the Spa 24 Hours for a fifth consecutive season, and a potential partnership with BMW star Raffaele Marciello would be a combination threatening to the established squads – not a favourite, but a good horse to back.
As one door closes, another opens. We'll find out soon enough where The Doctor is heading when the FIA WEC official 2026 entry list is revealed in the coming weeks.