Vol.05【Road To 8HOURS 2026】BMW Conquers the 8 Hours of Spa!

The Suzuka 8 Hours is the third round of the FIM Endurance World Championship.
The second round of the championship, held as a prelude to the Suzuka 8 Hours, was the "8 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps," also an 8-hour endurance race.
BMW Motorrad, whom we highlighted as a team to watch in our previous column, took victory at Spa, an excellent opportunity for data collection over an 8-hour race.

BMW Works Team Dominates Amidst Erratic Weather

BMW Motorrad secured victory after overcoming the Spa weather. This marks BMW's first win since the 24 Hours of Spa in 2022.

The venue for the second round was Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium. Located in the Ardennes region of Belgium, surrounded by forests, it's also known as the "Ardennes Rollercoaster." This 6985m circuit, with its mix of sweeping high-speed sections, technical corners, and significant elevation changes, is an 8-hour endurance race that tests not only outright speed and durability but also strategic flexibility. The Spa 8 Hours, held from June 5th to 7th, truly put that "strategic flexibility" to the test.

Spa is notorious for its "Spa weather," with rapidly changing conditions. It's not uncommon to experience sunshine and torrential rain within the same race, or even different conditions on the western and eastern sides of the circuit. With its 8-hour duration, a layout combining high-speed and technical areas, and unpredictable weather, it's a race that closely mirrors the Suzuka 8 Hours. Incidentally, the rainy season was also declared in the Suzuka region that weekend.

After free practice, the #37 BMW Motorrad team set the fastest time in qualifying. The BMW Motorrad team's three riders consistently topped the timesheets, marking the fastest lap in five out of six sessions. Despite this, the battle for pole position was fierce, with the top four teams – #1 YART Yamaha, #5 TSR Honda, and #12 Yoshimura SERT – all within a second of each other. The #11 Kawasaki Webike Trickstar (hereafter KWT) qualified fifth, and AutoRace Ube Racing was seventh. Even at this stage, the conditions had shifted from cloudy to clear, then to light rain and heavy downpours. Some teams experienced oil leaks on the wet track, leading to a multi-bike crash involving ten machines.

As usual, #12 Yoshimura SERT's Gregg Black took the lead at the start. #1 YART dropped back to around 10th position.

#37 BMW Motorrad completed the 8 hours without crashes or issues. This team tends to rise to the top when conditions become challenging at Suzuka 8 Hours!

The final race started at 13:00 on Saturday, June 6th (20:00 JST). The Spa 8H begins at noon on Saturday and concludes at 9 PM. In Belgium's high-latitude summer, it remains somewhat light until 9 PM.
#12 Yoshimura SERT took an early lead, with their usual starter, Gregg Black, launching from fourth on the grid to take the holeshot. From the outset, #12 Yoshimura SERT, #37 BMW Motorrad, #5 TSR Honda, #11 KWT, and #1 YART formed a leading group, pulling away from the rest.

With a cloudy sky hinting at rain, the race began in dry conditions. Within the first hour, #12 Yoshimura SERT, #76 AutoRace Ube, and the promising SST class contender #25 Team Etoile all crashed. While the extent of the damage varied, they all lost significant time.

However, in true endurance racing fashion, #12 Yoshimura SERT completed their pit stop in just 4 minutes and rejoined the race in 37th position, two laps down, beginning their charge.

#37 BMW Motorrad took the lead in this first hour. Markus Reiterberger, Steven Odendaal, and Michael van der Mark rode fast and consistent laps, pulling away from rivals like #1 YART, who had fallen to around 10th at the start, and #12 Yoshimura SERT, who crashed after 30 minutes.

While #37 BMW Motorrad, #1 YART, #11 KWT, and #5 TSR battled at the front, #12 Yoshimura SERT climbed to 28th after one hour, 19th after two, 14th after three, and 9th after four. However, as #5 TSR faced a lengthy pit stop due to a problem, rain began to fall at Spa in the mid-race, throwing the race into chaos.

Despite completing the race without major issues, #1 YART lost the chance for victory due to being caught out by the changing track conditions and making two more pit stops than #37.

KWT, or Kawasaki Webike Trickstar, slipped and fell when the rain started but fought back fiercely to secure a podium finish in third place.

#12 Yoshimura SERT crashed "uncharacteristically" just 30 minutes into the race. They dropped to near the back but made an incredible comeback to finish fourth over the next 7.5 hours!

Just before the 5-hour mark, #11 KWT crashed. Around the 5-hour mark, #1 YART pitted immediately after a rider change due to heavy rain, only to pit again within a lap to switch back to dry tires as the track began to dry, and then pit again as it started raining once more. This resulted in three pit stops in approximately 30 minutes, costing them valuable time.

This highlights one of the crucial elements of the Spa 8 Hours: "strategic flexibility." While all teams closely monitor weather radar and forecasts, situations like YART's can still occur due to Spa's unpredictable weather.

#5 F.C.C. TSR Honda France was in the leading group early on but retired after a lengthy pit stop due to issues. They finished 9th at Le Mans and retired at Spa in the 2026 season.

AutoRace Ube Racing finished 14th after a lengthy pit stop following an early crash. They are a team to watch at Suzuka 8 Hours, with Uramoto as their key rider.

Thereafter, only #37 BMW Motorrad consistently maintained a high pace, completing the 8 hours with virtually no issues to take the victory! #1 YART finished second, on the same lap but nearly a full lap behind. Third place went to #11 KWT, who recovered from their crash. #12 Yoshimura SERT, after dropping to almost last place, made an astonishing comeback to finish fourth.

#12 Yoshimura SERT maintained a pace that rivaled the leaders in the rain during the latter half of the race. They plan to debut the 2026 GSX-R1000R at Suzuka 8 Hours.

YART, with experience comparable to factory teams, is perhaps the closest contender for victory among the regular championship teams!

KWT, or Kawasaki Webike Trickstar, secured a third-place podium finish at Spa after finishing third at Le Mans. Their strength lies in their base in France, the heartland of endurance racing, and their operations in Japan.

With the rainy season declared in Suzuka, long-range forecasts suggest it may not have ended by the time of the Suzuka 8 Hours from July 3rd to 5th. Therefore, while one-off factory teams will be aiming for outright victory, the regular championship teams aiming for top positions and maximum points may have a slight advantage. This includes local teams like #12 Yoshimura SERT and #5 TSR Honda.

The top four teams from the Spa 8 Hours, along with #76 AutoRace Ube Racing and #5 TSR Honda, are all equipped with Bridgestone tires. If Suzuka experiences inclement weather, Japanese riders who are intimately familiar with Bridgestone rain tires at Suzuka will be key. In this context, for the championship regular teams, Yoshimura's "strategic flexibility" with the inclusion of Japanese rider Kokoro Atsumi at Suzuka could be a crucial factor for a top finish.

FIM Endurance World Championship Round 2: 8 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps

EWC Class

Winner: #37 BMW Motorrad World Endurance 192 laps / 10 pit stops
2nd: #1 YART Yamaha Official EWC 192 laps / 12 pit stops
3rd: #11 Kawasaki Webike Trickstar 190 laps / 10 pit stops
4th: #12 Yoshimura SERT MOTUL/SUZUKI 189 laps / 11 pit stops
5th: #4 Tati Team AVA6 Racing/HONDA 188 laps / 13 pit stops
6th: #65 Motobox Kremer Racing by321/YAMAHA 185 laps / 12 pit stops
14th: #76 AutoRace Ube Racing/BMW 174 laps / 8 pit stops
Retired: #5 F.C.C. TSR Honda France 62 laps / 7 pit stops

SST Class

Winner: #49 Revo-M2/Aprilia 186 laps / 11 pit stops
2nd: #77 Wojcik Racing Team/HONDA 186 laps / 9 pit stops
3rd: #18 TEAM18POMPIERS IGOL CMS/YAMAHA 185 laps / 10 pit stops
4th: #25 Team Etoile/BMW 183 laps / 9 pit stops
5th: #9 TEAM TECMAS-MINERVA OIL/BMW 181 laps / 10 pit stops
6th: #119 Slider Endurance/HONDA 180 laps / 10 pit stops