Valentino Rossi on the podium at Bathurst 12 Hour

Valentino Rossi has secured his maiden podium at the Bathurst 12 Hour sportscar race, finishing second in the 2025 edition.

Rossi’s #46 BMW ran in sixth place for much of the final hours of the race, but a change in fuel strategy while under a safety car meant they were able to stop once less than some of the other cars in the podium battle, allowing them to jump up into second third place in the final hour, and then into second with less than 10 minutes to go.

Raffaele Marciello drove the final two stints for the #46 Team WRT BMW, taking over as Rossi ended his final stint of the race by hitting the pit wall as he entered the pits to make the driver change.

The two Italians were with Charles Weerts for this year’s race; while it was the #46’s sister car, the #32 Team WRT BMW, that secured victory, driven by Augusto Farfus, Sheldon van der Linde, and Kelvin van der Linde.

For WRT, the victory of the #32 means they have won all three endurance races they’ve started so far this year: Bathurst, the Dubai 24 Hours and the 6 Hours of Abu Dhabi.

The podium in Bathurst was rounded out by the #75 Mercedes of Kenny Habul, Jules Gounon, Luca Stolz.

Rossi’s 2025 GT3 campaign will see him partake in a reduced schedule compared to previous years, with his GT World Challenge commitments of previous years discarded. Instead, he will feature solely in the GT3 class of the World Endurance Championship, where he made his debut last year.