Va꧟lentino Rossi fell short of a pod♐ium finish on his debut in the World Endurance Championship.

Rossi and Team WRT teammates Maxime Martin and Ahmed A💎l Harthy finished fourth in the season-opening Qatar 1812km.

MotoGP legend Rossi was behind the wheel of the BMW M4 ✅in the LMGT3 class which has been introduc🐲ed for 2024.

This year, Rossi will compete in the World Enduꦑrance Championship and the GT World Challenge.

The addition of his WEC commitmeꦿnts is with a view to racing in th💖e 24 Hours of Le Mans - one of his all-time dreams - later this year.

"That was my debut so I was excited," R✅🌜ossi said to Eurosport.

"I felt good, espec🌠ially in the first sti𒉰nt. I was fast.

"I kept a good pace. I felt good with the car.

"In the second stint, it was a bit more diff𒉰icult because the track is very different compared to yesterday, because of a lot of rubber and a lot of grip.

"So you stress the tyres more.

"In the second stint, it was more ♈tricky. Fo🍒r some reason, I had more traffic.

"The co𒉰ndition of the track♒ is in evolution. If you go out of the line..."

Rossi, now age📖d 44, is into his second season of four-wheel racing since retiring from MotoGP.

Buildi🐷ng towards this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans is his ongoing goal.