Summary of 8 hours of Spa racing – FIM EWC Round 2

FIM Endurance World Championship 2024
Round Two – 8 Hours Spa Motos
Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps – Belgium

The official Yamalube YART Yamaha EWC team has banished those memories 24 Hours Motos fell standing tall in the 8 Hours of Spa Motos, taking his second straight win in the FIM Endurance World Championship at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.

Achieving what amounts to an all-out sprint for EWC glory, the 8 Hours of Spa Motos quickly evolves into a thrilling strategic battle. While the YART team had top speed, their fuel consumption was so high that they had to make more pitstops than their opponents and struggled as a result.

That kept the fight for victory firmly alive at the iconic Belgian venue until the final hour when the Suzuki-powered Yoshimura SERT Motul, winner at Le Mans in April, tied had to cede first place to its rivals, the EWC 2023 champions, albeit by a narrow margin of 40.145 seconds.

Heading into the 45th Coca-Cola Suzuka 8 Hour Endurance Race in Japan next month, YART is one point behind Yoshimura SERT Motul, such is the tight nature of the competition in the EWC.

In the Superstock category provided by Dunlop, the first victory went to Aviobike of M2 Revo and the Aprilia brand. However, with a second-place finish, National Motos Honda increased its advantage in the FIM Endurance World Cup standings. The 33 Louit April Moto team completed the podium in the Superstock category.

Starting on Honda strength at the second EWC, Tati Team Beringer Racing claimed two Spa podiums after three tries for third, followed by Honda Viltaïs Racing and FCC Honda France.

After a trouble-filled race, FCC Honda France demoted Team Bolliger Switzerland for a spot in the closing moments of the race. The Viltaïs Racing Honda could have finished higher had it not crashed in the pits when a faulty part was replaced. However, the fourth-place finish was backed up when the Kawasaki Webike Trickstar dropped to third place due to mechanical problems.

Lining up in pole position, drivers Niccolò Canepa, Marvin Fritz and Karel Hanika took the win for the Austria-based YART team and Fritz completed the weekend as the Circuit lap record holder The new de Spa-Francorchamps follows his qualifying performance on Friday when he overtook Hanika earlier. The benchmark time of 2m18.845s is equal to the best clock of 2m18.551s.

“When we arrived here for testing on Thursday we found it was going to be tough as we knew we would need a bit more fuel and an extra stop in the race compared to our rivals.,” Fritz explains. “Certainly in qualifying we were extremely fast and to achieve a new lap record at Spa was fantastic. But we knew the race would be tough and our only chance was from the start to put pressure on everyone else. Niccolò started great and me and Karel continued like Niccolò started and pushed every lap, we had to but we made it perfect and the whole team did great, everyone contributed donate 110%. Everyone deserves this victory.”

YART team director Mandy Kainz said: “IIn fact, this race was before Suzuka and we ran close to Suzuka-spec, but a little safer because the track was very demanding. So we decided to adopt an aggressive strategy. We consolidate a bit in the first hour but if we have to push, we can push, which we can adjust with strength. So we gave the bike a little more power than usual and the guys used it perfectly. Other than that, the Bridgestone tires perform very, very well and the car is a perfect match..”

BMRT3D Maxxess Nevers, which includes Belgian riders Loris Cresson and Vincent Lonbois in the lineup, placed seventh in Formula EWC, followed by Motobox Kremer Racing, Maco Racing Team and KM 99. Florian Marino was fourth for KM 99 but lost to Les. The combination after 15 minutes ended the Yamaha team’s hopes of winning at home.

Markus Reiterberger took advantage of the superior top speed of his BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team entry to take first place along the long Kemmel road on the opening lap. While the Belgian side were soon eliminated from the final fight for victory, they were forced to retire in position 37 due to a persistent oil leak, which led to Sylvain Guintoli’s crash at the exit of the second part of the Brussels right arm at 16:20.

FCC TSR Honda France ran into trouble for the second event in a row. Initially unable to get his bike started, Alan Techer made an impressive recovery as he achieved a 42-minute lead during his first pit stops. But a collision for Josh Hook through the on-campus right-hander after an hour and 10 minutes proved to be another costly setback with two long pit stops needed to restore the No. 5 machine to fully active state, which allowed the fight back to fifth place to begin. With Mike Di Meglio unable to race due to injury, Hook and Techer were praised for competing as a duo.

The first win in the Superstock class powered by Aprilia was also the first for M2 Revo’s Aviobike, who relied on San Marino’s Luca Bernardi and Italian Kevin Calia to race as a pair after Francesco Cocco failed to start. broadcast. The Italian team leads National Motos Honda and the No. 33 Louit April Moto Team after an exciting battle for the FIM Endurance World Cup title.

Calia said: “Winning a race is always a good thing. Last year we won the Bol d’Or with Team 33. At the end of the year I had a lot of confidence in the Aprilia project and it started well. In Le Mans we were close to the podium but at the end of the race we made some mistakes and were unlucky. Bad luck is part of persistence, but sometimes you need to be lucky to achieve results. I’m very disappointed that Francesco can’t ride and I hope he gets better soon. We implemented an aggressive strategy, Luca and I both doing two parts. The race was very close for the number 55, they were very fast throughout the race and also in the box. So a big shout out to them. But we are very happy with this team victory.”

Team 18 Sapeurs Pompiers CMS Motostore finished fourth with Team Slider Endurance and Team Étoile next on pole. ADSS97 is counted in seventh place as it makes up for recent DNFs.

3ART Best of Bike came back from a crash near the hour mark to finish eighth while Honda No Limits also bounced back from a fall to finish as the next best permanent Superstock team behind DDB Lux-Moto Racing and one place ahead of JMA Racing Action Bike.

Honda No Limits were in a Superstock podium position when Lorenzo Gabellini crashed at Les Combes while trying to pass the Wójcik EWC Honda Racing Team. Johan Nigon then made an unscheduled pitstop to allow the Italian team to correct a technical problem earlier in the race.

The TRT27 AZ Moto showed promise, especially in the early stages as Tom Ward joined the battle for the Superstock podium. But mechanical problems forced the Honda-powered team to start at 3:45 p.m.

The Chromeburner-RAC 41-Honda also failed to go the distance due to a mechanical fault. Starting in second place and leading one stage, Wójcik Racing Team STK’s challenge ended when Danny Webb crashed heavily at 16:25, exiting the Pouhon Double Gauche section.

The 45th Coca-Cola Suzuka 8 Hour Endurance Race takes place in Japan as part of the FIM Endurance World Championship from July 19-21.

24 Heures Motos 2024 results

1. YART – Yamaha
2. Yoshimura SERT Motul – Suzuki +40.145s
3. Team Tati Beringer – Honda +3 laps
4. Honda Viltais Racing – Honda +4 laps
5. FCC TSR Honda France – Honda +5 laps
6. Swiss Bolliger Team – Kawasaki +5 laps
7. Aviobike team of M2 Revo – Aprilia +5 laps
8. National Motos – Honda +6 laps
9. BMRT 3D Maxxess Nevers – Kawasaki +7 laps
10. Team 33 Louit April Moto – Kawasaki +7 laps

2024 FIM Endurance World Championship Points

1. Yoshimura SERT Motuk Suzuki 88
2. YART Yamaha 87
3. Team Tati Beringer Honda 54
4. BMW Motorrad 53
5. Swiss Bolliger Team Kawasaki 43
6. Kawasaki WeBike Trickstar Kawasaki 39
7. BMRT 3D Maxxess Nevers Kawasaki 38
8. Motobox Kremer Yamaha 33
9. KM99 Yamaha 29
10. FCC TSR Honda France 26

Next

After the 24 Heures Motos at Le Mans, EWC will next visit Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium in June, Suzuka Circuit in Japan the following month and Circuit Paul Ricard in France for the Bol d’Or in September The 45th season of the EWC will include two 24-hour races and two eight-hour races.

FIM Endurance World Championship 2024 schedule

1. 24 Heures Motos (Le Mans, France): April 18-21 (FFM)
2. 8 Hours Spa Motos (Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium): June 6-8 (FMB)
3. 45th Coca-Cola Suzuka 8 Hour Endurance Race, Japan: July 18-21 (MJF)
4. Bol d’Or (Circuit Paul Ricard, France): September 12-15 (FFM)