12H Abu Dhabi: Joy at Kessel Racing 🎥
CLASS WIN WITH ROSSI Although it didn't work out with Kessel Racing's fifth overall victory in the Emirate and its trio of women had an accident, the Ticino-based team had reason to celebrate thanks to its motorcycle stars. Motorcycle superstar Valentino Rossi made a dream debut in GT racing, where the Italian sees his long-term future. Together with his motorcycle colleagues Luca Marini and Alessio Salucci [...]
Motorcycle superstar Valentino Rossi made a dream debut in GT racing, where the Italian sees his long-term future. Together with his motorcycle colleagues Luca Marini and Alessio Salucci, "Vale" led the standings in the Pro-Am category after the first half of the race with the Ferrari 488 GT3 entered by Kessel Racing.
One and a half hours after the restart, the sports car suddenly stopped on the track. Although the Ferrari was revived, the three Italians were unable to make up for the time lost. Nevertheless, behind two Audi R8 LMS cars from Germany's Attempto Racing, they managed third place overall and class victory.
Fast women accident
The three Kessel women qualified a good fourth in the field of 31 cars and also finished fourth at the intermediate finish. Shortly after the start of the second six hours, Michelle Gatting tripped over a competitor from the GT4 class while lapping. This damaged the left front suspension, which meant retirement for her, Rahel Frey and Manuela Gostner.
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The short summary of the race of the three women shows the fateful scene at 48 seconds.
Swiss with technical misfortune
Two other fast teams with Swiss crews had technical bad luck. The Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo with Blancpain AM champion Adrian Amstutz, which his Finnish partner Patrik Kujala had put on the front row of the grid, initially fought for the overall lead. A faulty ABS and the search for the cause threw the Barwell team back from the third hour and ultimately out of the race.
After that, the new Porsche 911 GT3 R with Ivan Jacoma, Mauro Pampanini and Mauro Calamia seemed to be heading for victory in the Pro-Am class. Until 100 minutes before the end, the car of the three Swiss drivers entered by Dinamic Motorsport from Italy was in third position and P1 in Pro-Am, before Jacoma collided while lapping. A steering break thus meant the brutal end.
Only after the retirement of these three teams was the way clear for Rossi & Co. to take class victory and third overall. The Italians Alexis De Bernardi, Loris Capirossi and Nicola Cadei brought their Kessel Ferrari over the distance in second place in the AM class. With a Ferrari from AF Corse, Christoph Ulrich finished third in AM.
Classification 12 Hours Abu Dhabi 2019
