English
Italiano
Valentino Rossi ended 2023 on the podium, with a second place in the 12 Hours of the Gulf, the last round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge. After not going particularly well in qualifying, the Doctor showed his muscles in the race, also managing to lead for an hour. A small problem at the pit stop robbed the WRT team of the possibility of finishing the 12 Hours ahead of everyone.
“At the end, it was a great weekend for us - commented Valentino - The target was to make it to the podium and we were very strong, very fast. We had a close to perfect race. We could have also won and have been in P1. So in the end we are a little bit upset because we felt the taste of the victory but we had an issue with the pedal box and lost crucial seconds at the pit stop. This is a great shame because in the end we missed it by 12 seconds so it could have been a fantastic battle to the last lap.”
However, the silver medal satisfied Rossi, who will put himself to the test in the WEC in 2024, again at the wheel of the WRT team BMW.
“The car was very strong, the teamwork was as always very good and I enjoyed it a lot to race with Dries and Nick. It is great to finish the season with a podium. It is the sixth podium of the season. So I am very happy about this season and about the improvement” he concluded.
