Valentino Rossi returned to the podium in the Bathurst 12 Hour race, the day before his 47th birthday. Last year, The Doctor finished the Australian race in 2nd place. This time, he finished in third alongside Augusto Farfus and Raffaele Marciello. The BMW M4 driven by #46 started from seventh position and managed to recover, even taking the lead at one point in the race.
The race was full of twists and turns and safety cars, right from the start. In the early laps, Mies hit a kangaroo with his Mustang. He, fortunately, was unharmed, but he destroyed his car. Even after the halfway point, the safety car had to go back into action due to a breakdown of Meguiar's Corvette and then, again, in the last hour.
The Mercedes driven by Engel, Grenier, and Martin won under the checkered flag, with Boccolacci, Fjordback, and Li's Porsche reaching second place. As mentioned, Valentino Rossi ended up on the podium.
"It was a really crazy race. Everything happened. I fell asleep three hours before the end, because I was exhausted," he said, laughing. "In the end, it was a good result. We had a lot of fun. We didn't win, but the podium is fine, considering our pace. I think we had a good race without any mistakes. I'm very happy, not only for myself, but also for the team and for Augusto and Raffaele," Valentino commented. Tomorrow he'll be turning forty-seven. "I'll have two things to celebrate," he concluded.