No time for a (Spa) break as EWC challenge intensifies
Belgium’s round of the FIM Endurance World Championship might be shorter – from 24 hours to eight – but the intensity of the challenge facing the ace riders and their teams at the legendary Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps will shift up another gear next week.
Following two unmissable editions of the 24H SPA EWC Motos, round two of the EWC season will take place over eight hours with the first 8 Hours of Spa Motos scheduled from 7-8 June.
Thirty-four permanent EWC teams appear on the 37-strong entry list with BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team and Yamalube YART Yamaha EWC Official Team – the winners at Spa in 2022 and 2023 respectively – firmly in the fight for more success on the iconic 6.985-kilometre layout.
While a shorter race would suggest a tamer contest on paper, the reality is set to be anything but with riders expected to push from start to finish in a race where there will be no margin for error, no time for delay and a greater focus on strategy.
Rider-turned-team boss Werner Daemen, who heads up Belgium-based BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team, said: “The teams are so professional that I expect everyone will go flat out from the start to the end, more like a sprint race. If you have an issue then it will be difficult to win and we see in the eight-hour races there are much more mistakes from the riders because they have to push like a sprint race and mistakes will happen for sure.”
Having overseen Yamalube YART Yamaha EWC Official Team’s Spa victory in 2023, and its capture of the FIM Endurance World Championship for Teams, Mandy Kainz said: “The track is good for us, it’s good for the tyres, it’s good for the riders. For the consumption we have to see for the strategy. On paper, we are one of the favourites but there are five or six teams who can win. But the one parameter you cannot calculate is the endurance parameter. If you crash the race is lost, you have to be very, very clever and find the compromise between speed and endurance. But we will come with an eight-hour spec.”
Xavier Siméon, the Belgian motorcycle racing hero turned expert pit reporter for Eurosport, said: “The race will be very, very fast. We know Spa is a very fast track so we will have a lot of action because the riders will push more than what they do in a 24-hour race. The race will be great but what the riders will face in Spa is the weather. The weather can be a mystery, it can be dry or wet and because the track is very long, what can happen is it can be raining in one part of the track but not in another part. It’s possible we will see double stints. In an eight-hour race you cannot make any mistake, especially because the level in EWC is very strong. The fuel consumption will be very important because the track is very long and all the time you can be on the track and not in the pits will be crucial. It will be a very exciting race.”
The 8 Hours of Spa Motos follows on from an all-action start to the 2024 EWC season, the 10th promoted by Warner Bros. Discovery Sports, at Le Mans in April. Click HERE for the race recap.
MALMEDY PARADE AND AUTOGRAPH AN EXCITING SPECTACLE AND A THRILL FOR THE FANS
All motorcycles contesting the 8 Hours of Spa Motos will take part in a spectacular riding parade from Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps to the town of Malmedy on Wednesday 5 June. EWC riders will sign autographs for fans and pose for selfies before returning to the track. The parade gets under way at 16h00 CET with the autograph signing session from 16h30-18h00. Click HERE for more information.
EWC RIDERS SAID WHAT?
Gregg Black (France), Yoshimura SERT Motul: “It’s an eight-hour race which means you can push your body, mental strength and bike that bit harder, knowing you’re ‘only’ going to do two to three stints. We basically do our stints for fuel and, with such a long straight at Spa, they are shorter, around 50 minutes, as opposed to nearly an hour at Le Mans. We know the track. It’s one of nicest tracks in world. It’s an old type of circuit with the countryside, an undulating profile, and some blind, really fast corners such as the famous Raidillon. It’s always impressive to carry speed through that corner. It shows the difference between slower and faster riders.”
Niccolò Canepa (Italy), Yamalube YART Yamaha EWC Official Team: “Winning at Spa last year was one of the best memories I’ve had with YART. To win our first 24-hour race after many years was really fantastic, especially on a mythical track like Spa. Our bike was very consistent and very easy to ride, especially in the infield part of the track. So when your bike is consistent you know exactly where to brake, exactly where to open the throttle. The lines are the same and that allows you to be consistent and fast.”
Loris Cresson (Belgium), BMRT3D maxxess Nevers: “Every race we want to deliver the best result but when it’s at home and everybody is there you have an extra motivation because you want to make everybody proud and you also want it for yourself. When we were competing in the Superstock class before we had a big ambition to win the race but, unfortunately, we didn’t do it. In Formula EWC we are fighting with the big guys and if we are on the podium it means there are only two teams or one team better than us so it’s a big motivation if we can do this.”
Jérémy Guarnoni (France), KM99: “An eight-hour race is another philosophy and it may be harder for us against the factory teams. But mistakes can happen and we have seen that in the Suzuka 8 Hours there are many mistakes. It will be less physical, of course, because three 24-hour races in one season was difficult for the riders, physically.”
Randy Krumennacher (Switzerland), Tati Team Beringer Racing: “I never raced at Spa before but I was there when I was a kid, around four years old, with my parents. I remember this but since then I never came back. Very fast tracks always suit me so I expect I can be fast there. Of course not knowing the track will make the first day hard but I like new challenges. We are already naturally very fast with the Honda on fast corners so I expect it to be a little bit easier. But I have my process for learning new tracks. For many years I watch the onboard videos, I walk the track and really memorise every single corner so I already go on track knowing quite a few things.”
Chris Leesch (Luxembourg), Chromeburner-RAC41-Honda: “It’s my favourite track so I guess I’m a little bit biased. It’s also the closest one to my home so it’s the closest thing I’m going to get to a home race, so I have very good emotions linked to the track. There are so many different elements to the track from the high-speed parts, the low-speed parts, blind corners, it’s just so different from any other track in the world. I think we all really enjoy going back there but it’s actually a very physical track, also mentally very tough because you have to push quite a lot to get a fast lap time. The bike is moving a lot, especially on the Superstock bikes we are sliding constantly on the rear so you have to push a lot more. You really have to push every lap to get a good lap time and you have to improvise in the fast corners. Because it’s a little bit less precise you need to have a big heart to be brave and push.”
Markus Reiterberger (Germany), BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team: “Coming to Spa is always special, the Tarmac is so nice and I am really loving it, it’s just amazing with so much grip. My team manager Werner [Daemen, from Belgium] was the former record holder so Spa is a good place for us.”
Tom Ward (Great Britain), TRT27 AZ Moto: “It’s a track you must respect but I’ve got quite high expectations for myself because I did the fastest ever stock Suzuki lap round there last year and I did really well in qualifying. Being on the Honda I definitely feel we can challenge for pole. With our rider line-up we’ll be really strong there. It’s meant to be me, Tom Oliver and Alex Olsen riding for TRT27 AZ Moto but Alex has broken his wrist and if he’s suffering with his wrist then me and Tom will do the race by ourselves. I know it will be physically harder but I feel like it could be better. I can’t wait.”
