Valentino Rossi achieved his first podium in the FIA World Endurance Championship at the 6h of Imola, on home soil and in front of the many fans who came to support him.
Together with Ahmad Al Harthy and Maxime Martin, the 'Doctor' this time succeeds in the feat that had narrowly eluded him on his debut in Qatar in the LMGT3 Class, with a BMW that was very competitive in difficult and mixed conditions between dry/wet/ damp that have enveloped the Santerno route.
Also thanks to the excellent strategy of the ever attentive Team WRT, the trio of M4 #46 found themselves fighting for the lead against the 'twin' #31 of Farfus/Gelael/Leung, with the Brazilian really on the ball in the final phase when he managed to overtake Martin, who then couldn't find the opportunity to return to the lead.
Among other things, a real shame was the Drive-Through penalty imposed precisely for an error committed by Rossi during the Virtual Safety Car phase, in which the stewards found he was speeding excessively. A new situation that the rider from Tavullia found himself facing and from which he will be able to learn for future times.
#31 Team WRT BMW M4 LMGT3: Darren Leung, Sean Gelael, Augusto Farfus. second place #46 Team WRT BMW M4 LMGT3: Ahmad Al Harthy, Valentino Rossi, Maxime Martin, third place #92 Manthey Purerxcing Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3: Aliaksandr Malykhin, Joel Sturm, Klaus Bachler
Photo by: Paul Foster
“Here it was difficult to understand how we could go, we obviously would have liked to fight for the podium, but we couldn't know until the race started,” said Valentino.
“In Qatar it was a clean race, but with the asphalt escape routes and wide track it was easier to recover in case of mistakes, while in Imola it was more difficult. On Saturday in Qualifying we already had a good car and Ahmad placed excellently third”.
“Personally I hoped it would be dry because I didn't feel enough grip in the wet. When it was my turn it didn't go too badly, especially in the first part, while the second stint was more difficult because the tires were wearing out, so I struggled more.”
“When we chose to fit slick tires while the track was still wet, Augusto was a little faster than Maxime at the start and took a bit of an advantage which we then weren't able to recover.”
“I am very happy for the one-two for WRT and BMW, as well as for the first podium obtained in the FIA WEC in only the second race, a nice celebration for the team in front of over 70,000 people, who I thank for their support.”
Podium: #46 Team WRT BMW M4 LMGT3: Ahmad Al Harthy, Valentino Rossi
Photo by: Emanuele Clivati | AG Photo
As always, Rossi's garage was stormed by fans and enthusiasts, scenes already seen two years ago when the Marche native made his debut as a new 4-wheel driver.
“In Imola I did my first race in a car, a couple of years have passed now and I have to say they have flown by! The first time I was very tense because everything was new to me, I didn't really know what to expect, so that time it was difficult. Furthermore, there were a lot of people in the paddock and we weren't used to this crowd because usually in MotoGP there are fewer of them, whereas here access was open to everyone”, says Rossi speaking to the journalists present in Imola, including Motorsport. .com.
“It was a good race, shame about that mistake in the pits in which I skipped my place by going straight at the moment of the driver change; a stupid mistake which however made us understand the differences from the bikes and other aspects that we weren't used to considering before” .
How much have you improved since that day?
“A lot, quite a lot in driving because we are talking about very particular cars to learn, it takes a lot of km and many times it is necessary to go a little slower to go faster. They are cars that require a certain amount of care on the tires and so on, if you are too aggressive right away and then you pay for it later. Above all, I improved in many other things, such as working in the pits. Endurance races are very different.”
You get used to encountering traffic in the GT World Challenge, but in the WEC there are Hypercars; How do you plan to handle it?
“It's one of the most difficult things about this championship because it's continuous. The GTWC is wild, we're all on equal terms and we fight a lot, while in the WEC the other drivers have more respect, but the Hypercars go much faster. In Qatar I I felt quite comfortable because the track was wide, in Imola right from Free Practice 1 I realized that it was much harder, with a narrow, short circuit and many cars.”
#46 Team WRT BMW M4 LMGT3: Ahmad Al Harthy, Valentino Rossi, Maxime Martin
Photo by: Paolo Belletti
The BMW seems to be in good shape, is there room for improvement?
“Our M4 is nice to drive, I feel good about it because it has sincere behavior and is stable. The thing where we suffer a bit is understeer.”
Imola has taken Monza's place, for now; could it remain on the calendar?
“In my opinion, yes, they are two very different tracks, but Imola is very particular, interesting, difficult and technical. It's true that it's narrow, but in my opinion it's very valid.”
How did you find filming in Imola?
“We came here to carry out a test with the team, which always tries to organize one where we will then go racing, but Imola is really difficult because you have to jump over the curbs, a real art because you have to pass in the right place at the right time; you can gain or lose a lot at the same time.”
And with the new curbs?
“They are very different from two years ago, but the GT rider lives on the curbs! It's the biggest difference I've found compared to the motorbikes and the tracks change completely, you use other trajectories and you're constantly cutting. It's the most difficult thing to learn, in Imola in the 'Variante Alta' the PROs can make the difference because they know where to put the car by jumping on the curb and gain a few tenths”.
#46 Team WRT BMW M4 LMGT3: Ahmad Al Harthy, Valentino Rossi, Maxime Martin
Photo by: Paolo Belletti
How are you finding splitting yourself into two different championships like GTWC and WEC?
“It's an experimental season for me, I have to figure out how many races to do in a year because Team WRT is really… crazy! They do a lot of events and every Sunday they're on the track, while I stopped riding motorbikes precisely because I wanted to be a little less busy. However, they are two good championships, the WEC is really fascinating because it is a World Championship and if you win you are World Champion, while in the GTWC there is the 24h of Spa which is the best for GT3s.” .
Martin is a permanent colleague, while Raffaele Marciello and Al Harthy alternate; What is it like to share the car with different companions in the same year?
“Personally, I've always gotten along well with everyone, great guys. Ahmad is a really interesting Bronze from Oman, while 'Lello' is one of the strongest in GT3 and racing with the best makes you grow a lot.”
You will do 24 hours of Le Mans and Spa in the space of two weeks, how are you preparing?
“I can't wait because Le Mans is the most important race of the year. I immediately felt comfortable on that track when I did the Le Mans Cup race in 2023, I had only tried it on the simulator and I found it a a little boring, but in reality it's very exciting and we're going very well. I really want to see what will happen, also because June will be a very important and tough month, given that the appointments are two weeks apart, but I hope to get there ready.”
#WEC #Rossi #podium #LMGT3 #great #party
