MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi together with Luca Marini and Alessio Salucci has won the Gulf 12 Hours Pro-Am class, while he also finished on the main podium.
Having completed the F1 and MotoGP swap with Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton at Valencia on Monday, Yamaha’s Rossi flew straight to Abu Dhabi to compete in the Gulf 12 Hours at Yas Marina Circuit for #46 VR46 Kessel Racing in a Ferrari 488 GT3 car.
Rossi entered with half-brother and Moto2 racer Marini and Salucci in the Pro-Am category as they qualified seventh overall and was second in class. The Italian started, as well as, completed the race for his team and had supreme fight against #5 Audi.
They even had a scare in the middle of the race when the car faced a fuel-flow issue but they eventually got going while battling for the final place on the podium and also Pro-Am class win against #5 Audi, even though they were a bit far off from lead Pro class.
Rossi and his team were helped immensely with a drive-through penalty for #5 Audi for a late stop as the Italian crossed the line third overall – and first in Pro-Am category – behind the two Attempto Racing Audi cars of #66 and #55 in the Top 2.
Here’s full results class wise of Gulf 12 Hours
Here’s the thoughts from Valentino Rossi and Lewis Hamilton
Here’s the video of the F1 and MotoGP swap
