The 42-year-old Italian competed in his final motorcycle Grand Prix in Valencia on November 14.
Then in early December, on the same Spanish circuit, he tested with WRT, the team created and managed by Vincent Vosse, reigning GT World Challenge Europe champion.
"I'm sure many fans will be as happy as we are to hear that + Vale + is starting a new career on four wheels, in GT, with Team WRT and Audi," Vosse wrote in a statement.
"We all know that Vale is a great champion and a figure of the sport. He is above all a real competitor, very pro," he adds.
"The Valence test was extremely positive, in terms of technical feedback and approach to work," adds Vosse.
The shorter sprint races are contested by teams of two pilots who take turns at the halfway point.
Rossi's Audi will wear its lucky number, 46, and it will be associated with drivers chosen by Audi.
The high point of its season will inevitably be the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps (July 30-31, 2022), the flagship event of the GT calendar, reserved for the GT3 and GT4 categories, with three drivers per crew.
"I am delighted to join Team WRT," said Rossi in the same statement.
"Everyone knows that I have always been a big fan of motor racing and that I wanted to race on four wheels at the end of my motorcycle career. Team WRT has the ideal profile for this project."
If all goes well in GT in 2022, Rossi will then be able to aim for a promotion in the LMP2 category, that of small prototypes, then in Hypercar, the premier category.
Many manufacturers will be back this season to try to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Audi Sport's fetish event: 13 victories between 2000 and 2014.
© 2022 AFP