Valentino Rossi’s thrilled verdict after Fanatec GT World Endurance Challenge Misano glory
Valentino Rossi rolled back the years to send his yellow-clad army of supporters home happy at Misano this weekend.
The MotoGP legend won his first Fanatec GT World Endurance Challenge race, in his second season competing, on home soil.
Rossi and teammate Maxime Martin in the Team WRT #46 BMW won Race 2, after recovering from 24th to eighth in Race 1, at the circuit named after Marco Simoncelli.
You'd think we'd made that up. We haven't. It's totally ridiculous but 100% true.
— Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS (@GTWorldChEu) July 17, 2023
Rossi, now 44, won his first race on four wheels earlier this summer at a support race for the 24 Hours of Le Mans and has now backed it up with more glory.
“I cannot be happier,” he reacted. “To win here at Misano is very special.
“We knew we could be strong, but winning is another story!
“I won my first GT race at Road to Le Mans, but this is different, as this is our main championship, the level is so high and there are so many fast drivers.
“It all started one and a half years ago, with Vincent Vosse, with the entire WRT team, and this is a great achievement.
“Everybody did a mega job, Maxime, the boys, and I thank everybody and BMW. I’m enjoying the moment and let’s continue like this.”
Rossi’s teammate Martin added: “For sure, if we were to choose one race to win, Vale would have said ‘Misano’, so we couldn’t dream for a better result.”
Team principal Vincent Vosse added: “We went through a lot of emotions this weekend, and it’s a very emotional moment now.
“After a frustrating first qualifying, we had a great come back in race one with cars #32 and #30, which got onto their respective podiums, third overall and second in the Gold Cup.
“Then this Sunday, we took pole position and a spot on the second row. We won the race with Vale and Maxime, took one more overall podium with car #31, won in the Gold Cup and won the Pit Stop Challenge thanks to our impressive crews.
“Misano has always been a special place for us, we have had great success here in the past, but winning here with Vale is really something different.
“On a more personal note, I would like to dedicate this win to my mum, who on top of having always supported me in everything I did, is a great fan of Vale since his MotoGP days, and is very, very happy today!”
