Valentino Rossi gets unlikely WEC podium in chaotic rain-hit Austin race

MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi’s No.46 WRT-entered BMW crew scored an unlikely podium in an eventful six-hour Lone Star Le Mans at COTA for the World Endurance Championship.

The latest round of the 2025 WEC took place at a rain-lashed COTA on Sunday, with the opening hours to the race interrupted by safety cars and red flags.

The No.46 WRT BMW of Rossi, Kelvin van der Linde and Ahmad Al Harthy endured a difficult start to the six-hour race in the LMGT3 class, with the crew first receiving a five-second penalty for a pitstop infringement in the third hour when Rossi was in the car.

Despite this, the No.46 was in third at the end of the third hour, but would be handed a drive-through penalty in the fourth due to a Virtual Safety Car infringement.

This dropped the car to 12th in the order at the end of hour four.

But a gamble in the final hour to go for slicks as the track dried up allowed van der Linde to propel the No.46 to third at the chequered flag.

A subsequent penalty for the No.54 Ferrari that won the race promoted the No.46 to second.

The No.95 McLaren of Sean Gelael, Darren Leung and Marino Sato inherited victory.

“It’s unbelievable,” seven-time MotoGP champion Rossi beamed.

“It felt like this race was never going to finish… We were fast, but we had some unlucky moments during the race.

“We were last at one point, but after, we were able to come back, and with these conditions in the end when we could run with slicks, our car was very good, and Kelvin did a fantastic job.

“I’m very happy about this podium for me, for my team-mates and for all the guys from the team.”

This COTA podium comes a year on from heartbreak at the 2024 Lone Star Le Mans, when the No.46 was forced to retire from podium contention in the final 15 minutes of the six-hour contest.

Porsche get first win of 2025 WEC in Hypercar

The Hypercar contest looked like it was shaping up to be a duel between the No.51 Ferrari of James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi and Alessandro Pier Guidi and the No.83 Le Mans-winning AF Corse Ferrari of Robert Kubica, Yiffei Ye and Phil Hanson.

But a poor stop for the No.83 under a VSC while running second at around half-distance vaulted the No.6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 of Kevin Estre, Matt Campbell and Laurens Vanthoor into second behind the No.51.

With an hour and 45 left on the clock, a rapid restart following a safety car period for the No.6 saw it put a move on the No.51 for the lead - though contact would leave the latter with a puncture.

The No.51 Ferrari dropped to fifth as a result at the chequered flag, while the No.6 963 scored Porsche’s first win of the season.

The No.50 Ferrari of Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen was second, while the No.94 Peugeot of Loic Duval, Malthe Jakobsen and Stoffel Vandoorne completed the podium.