MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi’s bid for a breakthrough class victory within the 24 Hours of Le Mans got here to a heartbreaking finish simply earlier than the midway mark, after WRT was compelled to retire the No. 46 BMW on account of a technical concern.
The automotive Rossi shared with two-time Nurburgring 24 Hours winner Kelvin van der Linde and bronze-rated Omaniu driver Ahmad Al-Harthy led the race into the darkness within the LMGT3 division, having certified third on the grid.
Though the No. 46 BMW slipped to second when AF Corse deployed manufacturing facility Ferrari driver Alessio Rovera within the No. 21 Ferrari 296 GT3, it remained firmly within the hunt for high honours, particularly with platinum-rated van der Linde returning behind the wheel.
Nevertheless, catastrophe struck in the midst of the eleventh hour when van der Linde went off at Porsche Curves and received beached within the gravel with what was later revealed to be {an electrical} concern.
A crane was dispatched which allowed van der Linde to flee the gravel entice, with the South African subsequently in a position to get going once more and return to the pitlane after dropping only one lap.
WRT mechanics carried out swift repairs and despatched van der Linde again on observe, however he was compelled to return to the storage after just a few laps.
Van der Linde was later seen shaking fingers with crew members, successfully confirming that the race was over for the fan-favourite No. 46 entry.
WRT formally introduced the automotive’s retirement shortly after, ending Rossi’s second look on the French endurance basic. It marked one other irritating near-miss after final 12 months’s race, when Al Harthy crashed on a moist observe whereas nonetheless on slick tyres in the course of the evening.
Double blow for WRT
Shortly into the thirteenth hour, WRT suffered additional misfortune when its sister No. 31 BMW was wheeled into the storage with injury after reportedly hitting a rabbit on observe.
The automotive, shared by Yasser Shahin, Timur Boguslavskiy and Augusto Farfus, remained within the storage and had misplaced 5 laps to the LMGT3 leaders on the time of writing.
