On the track where Rossi had achieved race-winning success in MotoGP on three occasions, 'The Doctor' achieved a breakthrough in his new career.
Alongside Team WRT BMW team-mate Maxime Martin, there had been a small amount of luck involved in Sunday’s second one-hour encounter of the weekend – the sister #32 WRT BMW of Dries Vanthoor and Charles Weerts dropped 13-seconds and the lead following a disastrous pit-stop.
But make no mistake, Rossi not only maintained his margin at the head of the field but produced arguably his most composed and impressive drive to comfortably pull away from Lucas Legeret’s chasing Audi to come out on top.
“I cannot be happier," said Rossi. "To win here at Misano is very special. We knew we could be strong, but winning is another story!
"I won my first GT race at Road to Le Mans, but this is different, as this is our main championship, the level is so high and there are so many fast drivers.
"It all started one and a half years ago, with Vincent, with the entire WRT team, and this is a great achievement. Everybody did a mega job, Maxime, the boys, and I thank everybody and BMW. I’m enjoying the moment and let’s continue like this.”
Team-mate Martin could barely watch in the garage after handing over the reins to his nine-time world champion partner.
Source: Autosport