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Valentino Rossi says he felt “sorry” for the collision that cost him and BMW a likely victory in the World Endurance Championship race at Imola
Rossi, Kelvin van der Linde and Ahmad Al-Harthy were one of the main contenders in the #46 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, leading a large chunk of the 6 Hours of Imola against fierce competition from the #21 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 and the #87 ASP Lexus RC F GT3.
It followed the former MotoGP star putting the #46 BMW on pole position in the LMGT3 class with a lap that was a full three-tenths quicker than the competition.
However, the race for the #46 crew came undone towards the end of the fourth hour, when Rossi was trying to repass the #21 Ferrari that had surged to the lead by not changing tyres in its most recent pitstop.
Sensing an opportunity heading into Rivazza, the Italian sent his BMW up the inside of Simon Mann, but ended up punting the #21 Ferrari into the gravel trap.
The stewards deemed Rossi responsible for the accident and handed him a stop-and-go penalty, leaving the BMW tumbling down the order.
Rossi’s teammate van der Linde put in a stunning recovery drive in the final stint to return to victory contention, but the #46 BMW lost out by just 0.316s to the #92 Manthey Porsche 911 GT3 R of Richard Lietz, Ryan Hardwick and Riccardo Pera
It’s very unfortunate because the team did a fantastic job, the car was very fast, and we managed the tyres well. Ahmad and especially Kelvin at the end drove brilliantly. Kelvin fought until the end and brought the podium home.
“Unfortunately, I made a mistake and hit the Ferrari in front of me during an overtaking attempt. The subsequent penalty cost us the win. I am sorry for that.”
WRT’s team boss Vincent Vosse also felt the #46 crew could have won the second round of the 2025 WEC in Italy.
