The #46 WRT BMW looked a smart pick for the Le Mans 24 Hours class win when Valentino Rossi - as one of just two Silver-rated drivers in the Hyperpole session - stuck the M4 GT3Evo third on the grid.
Though he was two seconds off the pole battle between two Platinums, Mattia Drudi and Alessio Rovera, it prompted a double reaction of 'good job by Rossi' and 'this is a race-winning package', the latter also supported by the #46 topping the all-Bronze Wednesday qualifying in Ahmad Al Harthy's hands, then Hyperpole 1 in Kelvin van der Linde's hands.
Come the race, the BMW was living up to that billing, until suddenly it wasn't. An electrical issue sent van der Linde off the track at the Porsche Curves, and though the car was retrieved and returned to the track, carrying on much longer was quickly deemed untenable.
The win was no guarantee at that point - WRT still had a bit of drive time coming up from the Bronze-rated Al Harthy and a lot of drive time from Rossi, who would've needed to really anchor the win bid - but the crew looked in strong shape.
Rossi had only done a single triple-stint in non-optimal track conditions so is hard to compare to any of the class's other Silvers - but seemed exactly where he needed to be when compared to his team-mates, around 1s-1.5s off van der Linde and around 2s up on Al Harthy. So there is no indication he wasn't up to it in terms of a win bid, and that he can't win the race in the future.
But while Rossi craves Le Mans success, winning in LMGT3 isn't the be-all and end-all. And there is a bit of uncertainty over where his sportscar experiment goes from here.
His immediate future is clear - more World Endurance Championship, and before that a run in the Spa 24 Hours, where he'll gun for the overall win as part of the extremely entertaining line-up that also features former Formula 1 driver Kevin Magnussen and endurance racing/DTM luminary Rene Rast.
"If you told me five years ago that one day I'd race with a Formula 1 driver in the same car, I'd say that it's not possible," a delighted Rossi had said ahead of Le Mans.
But Rossi is long known to have harboured Hypercar ambitions, and really gelled with BMW's LMDh during the WEC rookie test at the end of 2024.
Rossi's Hypercar affinity
It has been suggested by Rossi itself, and corroborated by BMW Motorsport boss Andreas Roos, that the LMDh is a more natural fit for his background than a GT3 car.
"I feel very good with the Hypercar," Rossi said earlier this year. "I feel easier than the GT because first I'm more used to that type of cars with higher performance and more aero - and also the big, big difference is that with the Hypercar the lines are more normal, more like motorcycles for example.
"With the GT in a lot of places you have to cut outside and inside and this changes a lot the driving style.
"I like the GT - and I don't know if I will have the chance to race with the Hypercar, but the first test was very good."
"He was quick from the beginning with the Hypercar," Roos attested. "Somehow it suits his driving style - and he was great. It was impressive to see how he can handle his car.
"But also when you remember, when he tested Formula 1 [with Ferrari, he was fast].
"The GT cars are quite special cars. When GT started, let's say that the top drivers, they jumped in the GT car and off you go. But now, even when you are a top driver on the top level in other categories and you come to GT, it will be difficult to beat the real GT specialists."
Roos believes Rossi has a "clear target" to be one of the best in GT competition, too. It is corroborated by his Spa bid and the fact Rossi holds a known interest in racing at the Nordschleife, too. It is not unthinkable that next year's 24 Hours of the Nurburgring could include the star-studded debuts of both himself and Max Verstappen.
But outside of individual races, it's clear the top class of endurance racing is the real attraction, one Rossi said earlier in 2025 that he "continues to push" for. And it inevitably puts Rossi somewhat at odds with BMW, which fielded two works LMDh cars in the Le Mans, both of them fully staffed by Platinum drivers. Of those, Rast is the oldest at 38, with a solid pedigree at the top of endurance racing specifically in addition to his massive list of accolades elsewhere in four-wheel racing.
Rossi is 46, and is obviously no long-term answer for a line-up like that even if you ignore the fact he's still a car racing work-in-progress.
"My commitment, my effort is always 100%. I like a lot to give my maximum and try to improve my skills and my level as a driver. It's a bit more difficult than with the motorcycle because unfortunately I'm old," he joked.
The privateer-ish #83 Ferrari did show that Le Mans can be won with a Gold-rated driver, Phil Hanson, who likewise wouldn't have much of a shot at breaking into a line-up like BMW's - but Hanson's sportscar pedigree inevitably dwarfs that of Rossi.
And across the 63 drivers in the top class this Le Mans there was just one Silver - Nico Pino at Proton Porsche - and just a handful of Golds, a few of whom should probably be re-categorised as Platinum.
To make it worth BMW's while, Rossi has to become truly elite as a prototype operator - which is inevitably a tall order given his still-limited car racing experience and limited window of time to make it happen.
If Rossi has no viable route to one of those top-class cars, it is not totally certain that he will continue.
Which is not to say he isn't enjoying himself. This type of racing remains a lighter burden than his years in MotoGP were. "I live this experience in a better way," he said.
"I feel a lot less pressure compared to the MotoGP. MotoGP for me was... the reason of my life, so sometimes it was difficult to manage the pressure. Here, I can say that I enjoy more."
The question is - and it's one we'll only really know the true answer to in some time - whether this Le Mans disappointment has soured that enjoyment at all, or just means he's guaranteed to give it one more go at the very least.
