• Team WRT BMW duo secures popular victory at Rossi’s home event
• Gold Cup honours for Garage 59 McLaren after early retirements shake up the order
• Tresor Attempto Racing Audi continues perfect weekend with Silver Cup triumph
• Kessel Racing Ferrari charges to dominant Bronze Cup win
PROVISIONAL RESULT: Misano Race 1
Valentino Rossi and Raffaele Marciello scored a sensational victory in Saturday night's GT World Challenge powered by AWS Sprint Cup race at Misano, extending Team WRT's remarkable run of success at the Italian circuit and delighting the local fans.
Staged as the sun set over the Adriatic, the 60-minute contest saw the #46 BMW drivers emerge victorious from a highly competitive battle with the #51 AF Corse – Francorchamps Motors Ferrari. It gave Rossi a third win in as many years at his home circuit, while Marciello completed a perfect Sprint Cup return by capturing his maiden series victory with BMW.
The #51 Ferrari started from pole with Alessio Rovera at the wheel, pursued by the #74 Kessel Racing Ferrari of Dennis Marschall. Rossi ran third in the #46 BMW, his confidence boosted by having produced a career-best Sprint Cup qualifying result. The race was neutralised by an early safety car and then a full-course yellow, though the order at the front remained stable when racing resumed.
As a Bronze Cup entrant the Kessel car would need to meet a minimum pit stop time, making it an outlier in the fight for overall victory. The crucial gap was between the #51 Ferrari and the #46 BMW, which stood at just over six seconds when the pit window opened.
There was nothing to choose between the pair when they completed their mid-race stops, the Team WRT crew bettering their rivals at AF Corse by just 0.1 seconds. As such the battle resumed between Vincent Abril in the Ferrari and Marciello in the BMW. If the lead was to change, it would need to happen on the circuit.
Marciello and Abril shared three Sprint Cup victories as teammates during the 2019 season, but no quarter was given in their fight for victory. Initially it seemed that the Ferrari would be able to manage the gap, but as darkness fell over Misano, Marciello increased his pace. The deficit initially stabilised at three seconds but was quickly eliminated, setting up a grandstand finish under the lights.
Marciello was able to get a run on the circuit's long back stretch, drafting on to the rear of the Ferrari and threatening a move in Turn 13. He launched his decisive attack with just five minutes left on the clock; Abril gave everything he had to retain the lead, but the BMW simply could not be stopped. From there Marciello was able to pull away to win by 1.5 seconds.
The #32 Team WRT BMW of Charles Weerts and Kelvin van der Linde finished third after a typically fast stop vaulted the title-chasing car ahead of its podium rivals. Fourth went to the #48 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG, which charged up the order during the second stint with Maro Engel at the wheel. The result salvaged crucial championship points for the Winward Racing squad, which started the race from 15th on the grid.
The #59 Garage 59 McLaren was fifth after making significant progress from 26th, while P6 went to the Silver Cup winner. Tresor Attempto Racing has been the standout car in its class since pre-event testing and converted this pace into a second victory of the year thanks to Ezequiel Perez Companc and Alex Aka.
The Gold Cup battle was thrown wide open when the first two cars on the grid – the #69 Emil Frey Racing Ferrari and the #777 AlManar Racing by WRT BMW – were eliminated by opening-lap incidents. This presented Garage 59 with a golden opportunity to secure its first win of 2025, which Louis Prette and Tom Fleming took full advantage of by finishing P10 overall. Saintéloc Racing was its closest rival, coming home 12th with its #25 Audi.
The Bronze Cup result looked secure from the early stages. After running second overall Marschall handed over to Dustin Blattner, who produced another polished performance aboard the #74 Ferrari to secure victory for Kessel Racing. Paradine Competition finished second after strong showings from Darren Leung and Dan Harper in the #991 BMW.
There is little time for the dust to settle on Saturday night’s action before cars are back on-track at Misano. Qualifying 2 takes place tomorrow at 10:25, followed by Race 2 at 14:45. Having scored a third Misano win in as many years, Rossi now has an opportunity to complete his first Sprint Cup weekend sweep. As ever, live coverage of both sessions will air on the GT World YouTube channel.
