MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi’s bid for a groundbreaking class victory at Le Mans in 24 hours came to a heartbreaking end just before the half-hearted mark after WRT was forced to retire from No. 46 BMW due to technical issues.
Car Rossi led two Nurburgring 24 Hours winners Kelvin van der Linde and bronze driver Ahmad Al-Harthy into the darkness of the LMGT3 division, taking third place on the grid.
BMW 46 slipped second when AF Corse deployed its factory Ferrari driver Alessio Rovera on the No. 21 Ferrari 296 GT3, but especially the platinum rate Van Der Linde returned behind the wheels to stay firmly in search of the finest honors.
However, a disaster occurred in the middle of an 11-hour period when van der Linde set out on a Porsche curve and later revealed to be an electrical problem, beached in gravel.
A crane was dispatched to allow van der Linde to escape the gravel trap. South Africa then proceeded again and returned to the pit run after losing one lap.
The WRT mechanics made quick repairs and brought van der Linde back into orbit, but was forced to return to the garage a few laps later.
Van der Linde later saw him shaking hands with the crew and effectively confirmed that the race had ended with the entry for Van FiveLight No. 46.
WRT quickly officially announced his car retirement, finishing Rossi’s second appearance in the French Endurance Classic. It marked another frustrating near miss after last year’s race.
Double hits of WRT
Until the 13th hour, WRT suffered even more misfortune when she moved into the garage with damage after being reportedly hit a rabbit in orbit.
The car, shared by Yasser Shahin, Timur Boguslavskiy and Augusto Farfus, remained in the garage and lost five laps to the leader of the LMGT3 at the time of writing.