{"id":4108,"date":"2026-10-17T09:20:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-17T12:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/?p=4108"},"modified":"2026-10-17T09:25:37","modified_gmt":"2026-10-17T12:25:37","slug":"rossis-verstappen-showdown-ruined-by-track-limits-mistake-as-motogp-legend-starts-60th","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/endurance\/rossis-verstappen-showdown-ruined-by-track-limits-mistake-as-motogp-legend-starts-60th\/","title":{"rendered":"Rossi&#8217;s Verstappen showdown ruined by track-limits mistake as MotoGP legend starts 60th"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">News Summary<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Valentino Rossi will start 60th out of 61 cars<\/strong> after losing his qualifying lap for exceeding track limits.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The MotoGP legend says the BMW #46 had enough pace to start close to <strong>Max Verstappen&#8217;s Mercedes #3<\/strong>, which qualified 15th.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Rossi admitted he slowed on his next lap because he believed his earlier time was valid, leaving him without a competitive qualifying result.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Valentino Rossi has admitted that a track-limits mistake destroyed his chance of starting close to Max Verstappen in Saturday&#8217;s GT World Challenge Europe finale at Portim\u00e3o<\/strong>, leaving the nine-time motorcycle world champion almost last on the 61-car grid despite believing his BMW had the pace to challenge the Formula 1 star.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Italian will start <strong>60th in the No. 46 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 EVO<\/strong>, shared with Max Hesse and Neil Verhagen, after his best lap was deleted for exceeding track limits at Turn 4. Verstappen, meanwhile, qualified 15th in the Mercedes-AMG GT3 he shares with Chris Lulham and Ben Barnicoat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The outcome was particularly frustrating for Rossi because he believed the original lap would have placed the BMW close to both Verstappen Racing and WRT&#8217;s sister No. 32 car, which qualified 14th.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Speaking to <em>Sky Italia<\/em> after qualifying, Rossi made clear how disappointed he was with the result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;We&#8217;re very, very disappointed because the lap had been good, the weather was good, and it would have allowed us to start very close to Verstappen and very close to the #32, our teammates,&#8221; Rossi explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The result transformed what had been expected to be a fascinating encounter between two world champions into a recovery challenge for Rossi and his teammates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Rossi explains the mistake that cost him qualifying<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The decisive incident occurred during Rossi&#8217;s qualifying segment, when he exceeded the track limits at Turn 4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Italian said he had deliberately tried to leave a margin through the most difficult sections of the Algarve circuit, but lost that margin while running close to another competitor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Honestly, I was expecting it because I had always left myself a little bit of margin in all the risky corners, but at Turn 4, I went over the limit by just a tiny bit,&#8221; Rossi said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The infringement alone did not necessarily have to destroy the team&#8217;s qualifying result. Rossi still had time to complete another lap, but he believed his earlier effort would stand and chose not to attack while following another car.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That decision became costly when the deletion was confirmed too late for him to establish another competitive reference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rossi explained that he had slowed because overtaking the car ahead would have cost time, unaware that his previous lap would no longer count.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The absence of a valid qualifying time in his segment had a particularly severe consequence under the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup format.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Unlike Formula 1, where a driver&#8217;s individual lap determines the grid position, GTWC endurance qualifying uses the combined performances of all three drivers. A missing time from one member of the crew can therefore compromise the entire entry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The No. 46 BMW consequently fell to <strong>60th on the starting grid<\/strong>, despite the pace demonstrated by Hesse and Verhagen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Rossi believes he could have fought Verstappen<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The mistake was particularly disappointing because Rossi had been looking forward to sharing the circuit with Verstappen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The two drivers have won a combined <strong>13 world championships in Formula 1 and motorcycle Grand Prix racing<\/strong>, making their first GT World Challenge Europe encounter one of the weekend&#8217;s main attractions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As <a href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/endurance\/verstappen-vs-valentino-rossi-two-world-champions-meet-in-gt3-at-portimao\/\"><strong>GRANDE PR\u00caMIO explained in its preview of the Verstappen\u2013Rossi meeting<\/strong><\/a>, the Dutchman is competing in a Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO while Rossi continues his endurance career with BMW and Team WRT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rossi believed the two crews were sufficiently close in performance for the qualifying session to produce a direct comparison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;So it&#8217;s a shame because we could have fought with Verstappen, as we were right there, and it would have been great,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Instead, the Italian must begin the three-hour race 45 positions behind the Red Bull Formula 1 driver.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Verstappen&#8217;s own qualifying session was far from straightforward. The Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing entry struggled with bouncing and inconsistent handling, leaving the Dutchman, Lulham and Barnicoat outside the leading group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/endurance\/verstappen-suffers-portimao-qualifying-setback-as-mercedes-struggles-and-porsche-takes-gtwc-pole\/\"><strong>Verstappen Racing eventually qualified 15th<\/strong><\/a>, with a combined average of 1:42.624, 0.553 seconds behind the pole-sitting Boutsen VDS Porsche.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That result had already disappointed the team after Lulham placed the Mercedes fourth in the second free practice session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"666\" src=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/timthumb-7.jpeg\" alt=\"GTWC EUROPA 2026, PORTIM\u00c3O, MERCEDES #3, VERSTAPPEN RACING, MAX VERSTAPPEN\" class=\"wp-image-1020318345\" srcset=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/timthumb-7.jpeg 1000w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/timthumb-7-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/timthumb-7-768x511.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/timthumb-7-150x100.jpeg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Max Verstappen (Photo: GTWC Europe)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Rossi and Verstappen face different recovery challenges<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The contrasting qualifying results leave the two champions with very different objectives for Saturday&#8217;s race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Verstappen Racing will start from the midfield, with the possibility of challenging for a top-10 finish or moving further forward through strategy, traffic management and driver changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rossi&#8217;s BMW faces a considerably more difficult task from 60th, particularly because the race features more than 60 GT3 entries competing across several classes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The three-hour format offers opportunities for recovery, but overtaking through such a large field carries risks, especially at Portim\u00e3o, where elevation changes and fast corners complicate traffic management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The situation also highlights how GT3 endurance racing differs from the categories in which Rossi and Verstappen established their reputations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Neither driver can determine the result alone. Their teammates&#8217; performances, pit-stop execution, tyre management and race strategy will all influence the outcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For Rossi, the immediate objective is to recover from a qualifying mistake that prevented him from demonstrating the BMW&#8217;s pace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For Verstappen, the challenge is to translate the speed shown during practice into a competitive race result after the Mercedes struggled in qualifying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">When is Rossi and Verstappen&#8217;s GTWC race at Portim\u00e3o?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup finale takes place on <strong>Saturday, October 17<\/strong>, with the three-hour race beginning at 17:00 local time in Portugal and the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That corresponds to <strong>12:00 EDT in New York, 09:00 PDT in Los Angeles, 21:30 IST in India and 13:00 BRT in Bras\u00edlia<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The race will be available through the championship&#8217;s international streaming service. Readers can consult <a href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/endurance\/where-to-watch-max-verstappens-gt3-race-live-portimao-start-times-for-us-uk-india-and-australia\/\"><strong>GRANDE PR\u00caMIO&#8217;s complete Portim\u00e3o viewing guide<\/strong><\/a> for broadcast information and start times across the main English-speaking markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>GRANDE PR\u00caMIO<\/strong> will follow the recovery attempts of Rossi and Verstappen through its <a href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/endurance\/\">endurance racing coverage<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Valentino Rossi says he had the pace to qualify close to Max Verstappen at Portim\u00e3o, but a track-limits infringement and a costly misunderstanding left his BMW almost last on the grid.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1020318358,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"42wp_featured_image_caption":"Valentino Rossi in Portim\u00e3o","42wp_featured_image_credits":"GTWC Europa","42wp_featured_video":"","42wp_ai_content_disclaimer":"","42wp_is_ai_content":false,"42wp_featured_image_hidden":false,"42wp_authors_list":[{"id":7,"location":""}],"footnotes":"","42wp_breaking_news":false},"categories":[46],"tags":[667,64,605,484],"42wp_author":[7],"class_list":["post-4108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-endurance","tag-gt-world-challenge-europe","tag-max-verstappen","tag-portimao","tag-valentino-rossi","42wp_author-victor-martins"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4108"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4108\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4109,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4108\/revisions\/4109"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1020318358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4108"},{"taxonomy":"42wp_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/42wp_author?post=4108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}