MISANO ADRIATICO, ITALY – The atmosphere at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli was already electric, but Valentino Rossi just sent the home crowd into absolute raptures. Driving the #46 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 EVO he shares with Max Hesse, the 47-year-old motorsport legend clinched his first-ever ROWE Pole Position Award in the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS Sprint Cup, setting up an explosive front-row start for tonight’s race.
While Rossi has technically started from the front of the grid twice before in his GTWC career, both of those flying laps were clocked by his former teammate Maxime Martin. Today, it was entirely the Italian icon’s own hands on the wheel that conquered the technical 4.22-kilometer seaside circuit.
Group A: Rossi Blazes the Trail
Under the scorching Italian sun, the session was split into two 10-minute segments. The heavy hitters of the Pro and Gold Cup classes flooded the track first in Group A to lay down the baseline.
Rossi didn’t waste any time. Pushing the newly upgraded BMW EVO package to its absolute absolute limits through the high-speed Curvone bend, he stopped the clocks at a stellar 1:32.154.
Championship leader Ricardo Feller threw down a massive challenge in the #80 Lionspeed GP Porsche 911 GT3 R, but crossed the line 0.141 seconds adrift of the WRT BMW. With the Group A checkered flag waving, Rossi held P1 overall, but his job was only half-done. He was forced to head back to the pits and undergo an anxious wait, watching the monitor on his phone as the Silver and Bronze Cup runners took over for Group B.
Group B: Chaos, Red Flags, and a Late Charge
The second part of qualifying descended into immediate drama. Before the field could even establish a rhythm, a bizarre outlap incident between two Ferraris brought out a Red Flag.
Dennis Marschall was exiting the pit lane in his #74 Kessel Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 when he made direct contact with Felix Hirsiger’s #71 AF Corse machine. The collision sent Marschall pirouetting straight into the Turn 4 gravel trap. While both cars ultimately managed to continue with cosmetic damage, the cleanup completely halted the session, leaving the remaining field with a high-pressure, five-minute mad dash to get their laps in.
Once green-flag running resumed, the threat to Rossi’s pole came from an unlikely source. Young Italian driver Andrea Frassineti found an unbelievable sweet spot in the #66 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II. Hitting every apex perfectly, Frassineti absolute flew through the final sector, crossing the line just 0.099 seconds shy of Rossi’s time.
It wasn’t quite enough to dethrone ‘The Doctor’ from the overall top spot, but it comfortably secured Frassineti the Silver Cup pole position and a spectacular P2 overall start on the front row.
“Misano is Always Magic”
Standing at the front of the WRT garage surrounded by a sea of yellow-clad fans, Rossi couldn’t hide his emotion.
“It’s the first pole for me, and Misano is always magic,” Rossi said post-session. “I’ve won here the last three years, but never started from pole. We’ve worked hard during the weekend to put on the pressure. The team and car work very well. It’s very important in Sprint Cup, and now we wait for the race tonight.”
With overtaking notoriously difficult around Misano’s tight layout, leading the pack into the Variante del Parco at the start will be a massive advantage. Race 1 gets underway tonight at 20:30 local time (CEST) under the floodlights.