For the second consecutive season in the FIA World Endurance Championship, Alessio Rovera clinched the Goodyear Wingfoot Award in 2025 – and after finishing runner-up in the title standings with VISTA AF Corse, the Italian has set his sights on the biggest LMGT3 prize of all next year.
The Wingfoot Award is presented annually to the LMGT3 category driver who proved to be consistently the quickest across the course of the campaign, by analysing individual race performances.
There were additionally round-by-round ‘Driver of the Day’ accolades – won by Sean Gelael (United Autosports) in Qatar, Valentino Rossi (Team WRT) at Imola, Ben Tuck (Proton Competition) at Spa-Francorchamps, Richard Lietz (Manthey 1st Phorm) at Le Mans, Eduardo Barrichello (Racing Spirit of Léman) in São Paulo, Bernardo Sousa (Proton Competition) at COTA, Riccardo Pera (Manthey 1st Phorm) at Fuji and Ryan Hardwick (Manthey 1st Phorm) in Bahrain.
As in 2024, however, the overall Wingfoot trophy went to Rovera, who alongside VISTA team-mates François Hériau and Simon Mann, challenged for the coveted LMGT3 crown for the first time, pushing Manthey trio Lietz, Pera and Hardwick right down to the wire in the Sakhir finale.
Along the way, there was a well-deserved triumph at Spa followed by runner-up results at Le Mans and Fuji, although crucial points were lost on home soil at Imola – where Mann found himself spun out of contention by Rossi while in the class lead – and in Japan, where a five-second penalty for having had too many team members in the fast lane during its last pit-stop cost the #21 entry a second success of the season.
Just 14 points shy of glory in the end, having come so close yet ultimately so far, Ferrari factory driver Rovera is eager to go one spot better in 2026.
“I’m very happy to have won the Wingfoot Award again,” acknowledged the 30-year-old Varese native, a former FIA WEC champion in both LMGTE Am and the LMP2 Pro-Am Cup. “I will try to book it for next year as well!
“Obviously, I’m a little disappointed about the championship – when you get to the last race fighting for the title and you finish second, it’s normal to feel a little down – but all-in-all, it was a positive season and I think we did a really good job. We brought home a nice victory at Spa and we almost doubled it at Fuji, where we crossed the finish line first but the win was taken away by a penalty.
“There were still a few mistakes here and there, but compared to last year, we have shown that we have improved in every aspect. In 2026, we will race the new Ferrari 296 LMGT3 Evo, which will be a further step forward from the standard 296 LMGT3 and will help us a lot, so we will go into next season knowing we are a strong team and that we can aim for the title!”
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