Endurance World Championship – Bol d’Or
While Yoshimura SERT Motul made it a hat-trick of Bol d’Or victories, Yamalube YART Yamaha EWC Official Team won the FIM Endurance World Championship by one point after late heartbreak for BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team.
While Yoshimura SERT Motul made it a hat-trick of Bol d’Or victories, Yamalube YART Yamaha EWC Official Team won the FIM Endurance World Championship by one point after late heartbreak for BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team.
National Motos Honda FMA secured a second consecutive FIM Endurance World Cup title as Champion-MRP-Tecmas fought back to win the Dunlop-supplied Superstock category at Circuit Paul Ricard.
Team Moto Ain celebrated a maiden FIM Endurance World Trophy race victory, but it was ARTEC #199 that made EWC history by winning the entry-level Production competition’s inaugural title after erstwhile leader Team Super Moto Racing endured a troubled season finale.
BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team and Yamalube YART Yamaha EWC Official Teamhad started the season showdown level on points following qualifying, making the 88th Bol d’Or a winner-takes-all fight for top honours.
The 24-hour EWC season showdown had less than 30 minutes to run when smoke began pouring from the rear of the Belgian squad’s BMW M 1000 RR, just as a maiden EWC title was seemingly all but assured.
After being never headed from the seventh hour onwards, Yoshimura SERT Motul made it a hat-trick of Bol d’Or victories but lost the EWC title to Yamalube YART Yamaha EWC Official Team by one point in a dramatic conclusion to the 2025 championship fight.
Despite the late nature of its title triumph – its second in three years – Yamalube YART Yamaha EWC Official Team was a worthy champion having claimed victory in the 24 Heures Motos and third place in the 8 Hours of Spa Motos earlier in the season with riders Marvin Fritz, Karel Hanika and Jason O’Halloran.
YART – Yamaha Team Manager Mandy Kainz said: “Until the finish line nothing is done. I want to say very sorry to the BMW team, they made an awesome job and were so unlucky. It’s unbelievable to be honest, they would also deserve it. We had bad luck in Suzuka, now came a lot of luck.”
Gregg Black, who was joined on the winning Yoshimura SERT Motul Suzuki by Dan Linfoot and Étienne Masson, said: “Incredible week, incredible race. We got 65 points, we couldn’t do better, great job from the team and my team-mates. I’m happy for the victory. Of course, we would like to win the championship as well, so sorry for the BMW, I thought they were going to win, I would have been happy for them, but that’s racing.”
Like team-mate Masson – who set a new qualifying lap record on Friday morning – Black has now won the Bol d’Or on five occasions.
AutoRace Ube Racing Team looked set to mark its Bol d’Or debut in a fine fourth place only to retire in the final hour following a mechanical failure. It left the Superstock top two, Champion-MRP-Tecmas and Kaedear-Dafy-RAC 41 Honda, to finish third and fourth overall respectively followed by three other Superstock squads, National Motos Honda FMA, Team 18 Pompiers Igol CMS Motostore and Revo-M2.
Team Bolliger Switzerland and Mana-Au Competition rounded out the Formula EWC category top four, followed by Maco Racing, Tati Team AVA6 Racing and Team PMS99 Yam Service. Team 33 Louit April Moto completed the overall top 10.
Champion-MRP-Tecmas was on course to claim a comfortable Superstock victory, its second of the season, when a sensor issue struck at 12h30 and forced a lengthy pitstop. Although the #9 BMW was stationary for more than 10 minutes, Hannes Soomer and Bálint Kovács combined to fight back into first place to celebrate what appeared to be an unlikely win alongside Loris Cresson and Jan-Ole Jähnig.
Johan Nigon, Guillaume Raymond and Valentin Suchet formed National Motos Honda FMA’s title winning squad, while Team Racing 85 by A2M2, Team 113 VIP Moto-Sporting Moto-Dynoperf, AG Racing Team and Team SLA Honda Toulon filled the EWC top 10.
ERC Endurance suffered a dramatic exit when David Checa crashed heavily at 03h55. The Spanish rider was uninjured but the German squad’s BMW was badly damaged after it caught fire. ELF Marc VDS Racing Team/KM99 was also in the top 10 when it stopped with a mechanical failure at 03h19. Team LRP Poland and Wójcik Racing Team also failed to finish, as did F.C.C. TSR Honda France and Kawasaki Webike Trickstar (see below). There was also heartache for Motobox Kremer Racing powered by 123, which was eighth overall and fifth in Formula EWC when it stopped with engine failure at 10h39.
ARTEC #199 (Paul Barre, Lionel Bergeron, Wayne Bourgeais and Mathieu Clement) won the inaugural FIM Endurance World Trophy after Team Super Moto Racing was delayed by two falls during the night and a late-race crash that led to its early exit. Team Moto Ain won the entry-level category for production-based machinery with Pierre Gelas, Ludovic Hauser, Jordy Manneveau and Thomas Wolfarth, followed by Green Team 42 Lycée Sainte Claire and Audemar Motoclub Gemenos.
DI MEGLIO “DISAPPOINTED” BUT ON ROAD TO RECOVERY AFTER CRASH
Mike Di Meglio is expected to make a full recovery after he was sidelined with a leg injury when he crashed on oil dropped by Oliver König’s stricken motorcycle.
“I crashed during my first stint after hitting oil,” Di Meglio said. “I want to thank all the medical services for their care. After examination I have a fracture of the tibia. I’m heading back to Toulouse to be treated by my medical staff and undergo surgery. I’m extremely disappointed. We had prepared well for this finale. Well done to all my team and my team-mates for never giving up, unfortunately the laws of mechanics had the final say.”
With Di Meglio unable to continue, Grégory Leblanc and Román Ramos heroically brought Kawasaki Webike Trickstar up to sixth place. But its retirement due to a valve issue was confirmed at 06h10 following its unscheduled pitstop at 05h34.
STRONG START BUT NO REWARD FOR F.C.C. TSR HONDA FRANCE
Second after eight hours having led, F.C.C. TSR Honda France was in the victory fight when a pitstop at 03h20 proved terminal due to a mechanical failure.
Alan Techer, who had earlier set a new race lap record of 1m52.506s to lower Marcus Reiterberger’s previous benchmark of 1m52.517s, said: “It was a disappointing end to the race for us, especially after such a strong start. I took the start and we were leading and, together with Corentin [Perolari], we showed we had the pace to fight for victory. We managed many solid stints, proved our speed and demonstrated the potential of the bike. Unfortunately, the mechanical issue was out of our control, and it prevented us from finishing the way we had hoped. Still, what we take away is that even with just two riders for most of the race, we had the ability to battle for the win. That’s what matters most.
“We had a great week, the bike was strong and easy to ride both day and night, and our target of consistent 1m53s laps was achieved. Now the focus is on building from this and coming back even stronger next year.”
Taiga Hada was also part of the F.C.C. TSR Honda France line-up but only completed selected stints in line with the team’s pre-race strategy.
WHAT’S NEXT?
The 2026 EWC season is set to begin with the 49th edition of the 24 Heures Motos at Le Mans in France from 16-19 April. Click HERE for more information.
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