Valentino Rossi takes incredible POLE for Imola showdown

Valentino Rossi in 2024 — Photo: © IMAGO

WEC

Valentino Rossi takes incredible POLE for Imola showdown

MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi is now thriving in endurance racing with BMW

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Sunday 20 April 2025 16:55

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Nine-time world motorcycling champion Valentino Rossi has secured his first pole in the FIA World Endurance Championship in LMGT3.

The MotoGP legend topped the timesheets in Hyperpole on Saturday, earning his BMW team's first pole of 2025 with a time of 1:42.355.

Rossi, famously nicknamed 'The Doctor', was three-tenths ahead of closest rival Clemens Schmid in the Auto Sport Promotion Lexus RC F GT3s.

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Rossi appeared overjoyed after securing the result in front of thousands of adoring home fans at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari ahead of round two of the 2025 WEC campaign in Imola.

Rossi's triumph in the #46 WRT BMW M4 GT3 Evo wasn't the only action for the WEC home heroes on Saturday. Ferrari secured an impressive 1-2 in qualifying in the hypercar category for Sunday's 6 Hours of Imola with former F1 star Antonio Giovinazzi claiming the top spot.

How long has Valentino Rossi raced in WEC?

Rossi's first pole with BMW comes just two rounds into this year's campaign and his second with the German motorsport giants.

The 46-year-old enjoyed a comfortable maiden season in the LMGT3 category in 2024 with the #46 WRT BMW finishing the season in sixth place alongside team-mates Ahmad Al Harthy and Maxime Martin.

For 2025, Rossi has returned with BMW, once again driving alongside Al Harthy, although Martin opted to leave the team to join Mercedes-AMG and Iron Lynx, with Kelvin van der Linde replacing him.

Following his first pole result, Rossi took to social media platform 'X' to celebrate the triumph and speaking after the race, he said: "I’m very happy."

"It’s a great emotion. My home race is always special. I live very close to here, and there’s a fantastic atmosphere at the track with a lot of fans. It’s great to be starting on pole position."