MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi scores podium at Gulf 12 Hour
Dec 16, 2019 5:11:08 GMT -8
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Post by afx on Dec 16, 2019 5:11:08 GMT -8
MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi finished the Gulf 12 Hours in Abu Dhabi in third position on Saturday – winning the Pro-Am class for Ferrari
Rossi was behind the wheel of the #46 Monster VR46 Kessel Ferrari 488 GT3 for the final stint, and took the chequered flag in third position, four laps down on the winning car in his first race start since 2012.
The 40-year-old Italian shared the car with half-brother Luca Marini, a Moto2 racer, and longtime friend and business associate Alessio 'Uccio' Salucci.
Rossi started the race – which was run in two six-hour segments – but dropped two places in the opening laps, but got them both back over his first stint, while Marini gained another later so they finished the first part in sixth position.
In the second segment, following a scare when Rossi stopped out on track with a fuel-flow issue, his car become embroiled in a duel for the final place on the podium with the #5 Audi of former DTM star Uwe Alzen.
A drive-through penalty for serving a pitstop too late cost Alzen dearly, and helped Rossi’s car grab the final position on the podium in the final hour of the event.
Christopher Mies crossed the line in first place in #66 Attempto Audi R8 LMS, which he shared with Dries Vanthoor and Rinat Salikhov, finishing 1m38s ahead of the sister car of Nick Foster, Murod Sultanov and Mattia Drudi.
The #66 car won both segments of the race, and prevailed despite serving a stop/go penalty for a pitstop infringement in the first part.
HTP Motorsport's pole-winning Mercedes-AMG GT3 suffered an ignition coil issue, which stranded it out on the circuit towards the end of the first half of the race, while the #77 Barwell Lamborghini Huracan GT3, which had joined the HTP Merc on the front row, suffered an ABS failure which caused a lengthy repair job.
