FIM EWC 2026

Round Two – 8 Hours of Spa Motos
Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps

BMW makes good on Spa speed

BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team converted pole position into victory at the 8 Hours of Spa Motos, Markus Reiterberger, Steven Odendaal and Michael van der Mark taking the #37 BMW M 1000 RR to a measured but hard-earned win in constantly changing conditions at Spa-Francorchamps.

The BMW squad had already made its pace clear in qualifying, where all three riders topped their respective groups to secure pole by more than half a second. The race then became a different sort of test, with showers repeatedly crossing the Ardennes circuit and forcing teams to make rapid calls on tyres, timing and risk.

BMW briefly lost the lead in the opening exchanges, but soon re-established its lead and then handled the changing weather better than anyone else. After the frustration of Le Mans, where the #37 had shown race-winning speed before late trouble removed it from victory contention, Spa delivered the result that had been threatening since the start of the season.

After eight hours, BMW completed 192 laps and took the chequered flag in 8h01m08.887s, 1m16.079s ahead of YART Yamaha Official EWC Team. The victory, combined with pole position, gave BMW the maximum possible points haul from round two and lifted the team to third in the championship on 68 points.

YART banks another major score

YART Yamaha Official EWC Team did not have a straightforward run to second, but the defending champions again made the most of a difficult day. Karel Hanika dropped from second to tenth off the start before mounting a strong recovery, climbing back to sixth inside the first 20 minutes and then fourth by the half-hour mark.

Marvin Fritz then brought the #1 Yamaha into the podium fight, while Leandro Mercado kept YART in touch through the middle phase of the race. As the weather became more erratic, the Austrian squad had to react to several awkward tyre windows, including one sequence where the team was forced into three pit stops in around 20 minutes as the track moved between wet, drying and wet again.

YART lacked BMW’s ultimate dry pace in some phases, but the team kept the mistakes out of its race and continued to bank the sort of result that wins endurance championships. Second at Spa, added to victory at Le Mans, leaves YART on 91 points and 22 clear of Yoshimura SERT Motul heading to Suzuka.

Kawasaki and SERT stay in the hunt

Kawasaki Webike Trickstar completed the podium, finishing two laps behind the winning BMW. It was another important score for the Kawasaki squad after its Le Mans podium, and keeps the team fourth in the championship on 64 points, only four behind BMW.

Yoshimura SERT Motul’s fourth place came after a far more complicated afternoon. Gregg Black made the initial break from the second row and briefly led the race, but a fall at Les Combes after around 30 minutes sent the Suzuki back to the pits with exhaust damage.

The Yoshimura SERT Motul crew turned the bike around quickly and Étienne Masson rejoined deep in the field, two laps down. From there, Masson, Black and Dan Linfoot mounted a sustained recovery. The #12 Suzuki was back to 28th by the end of the opening hour, 14th after three hours, seventh at half-distance, and then fourth by the sixth hour.

That was as far as the recovery went, but fourth was still a valuable save. SERT added 21 points and now sits second in the championship on 69, one point ahead of BMW and five clear of Kawasaki.

The result also produced a neat manufacturer spread, with six different marques filling the top six overall: BMW, Yamaha, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Honda and Aprilia.

Honda pace goes unrewarded for TSR

F.C.C. TSR Honda France had the pace to fight for the podium, but not the finish. Corentin Perolari started strongly from third on the grid, moved to second on the opening lap, then put the #5 Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP into the lead during the early stages.

Alan Techer rejoined in seventh after the first stop and quickly worked back to second, keeping Honda in the front group. Light rain then arrived around the circuit after two hours, and Techer had to manage an issue that affected the bike’s performance while still holding fourth before the next scheduled stop.

John McPhee took over as the rain intensified, and the team remained in podium contention through the tyre-change phase. The #5 Honda also underlined its speed by setting the fastest lap of the race, Corentin Perolari’s 2m19.750s showing what might have been before the team’s retirement.

Tati fifth as Honda adds class silverware

Tati Team AVA6 Racing delivered Honda’s best overall result, Hugo Clère, Mike Di Meglio and Isaac Viñales bringing the #4 Fireblade home fifth, four laps behind BMW. It was a strong privateer performance, built on consistent lap times and tidy pit work, across a race in which the weather made it difficult to establish rhythm.

There was also a Superstock podium for Wójcik Racing Team #77 SST, which finished seventh overall and second in class after a composed run from Oscar Gutiérrez, Jordi Torres and Mateusz Molik. Team 18 Sapeurs Pompiers CMS Motostore completed the Superstock podium in ninth overall, while Team Aviobike by M2 Revo headed the Superstock order in sixth.

Yamaha Motobox Kremer Racing #65 finished eighth overall, while the Production class win went to ARTEC #199 on Kawasaki, ahead of Team HTC Racing #16 and Mana-au Competition #531.

Stauffer flies the Australian flag

Max Stauffer was part of the Motobox Kremer Racing by 321 effort that finished eighth overall, seven laps behind the winning BMW.

That put the squad well inside the top ten on a day when Spa’s changing weather and repeated tyre calls made even finishing cleanly a challenge. The Production class win, however, went to ARTEC #199 on Kawasaki, ahead of Team HTC Racing #16 and Mana-au Competition #531.

It also continues Stauffer’s growing international endurance CV, after the young Australian had already been part of the Motobox Kremer Yamaha line-up at Le Mans earlier in the season.

Suzuka now looms large

The FIM Endurance World Championship now heads to Japan for the Suzuka 8 Hours from July 3-5. YART takes a 22-point championship lead into round three, but BMW’s Spa victory has tightened the fight behind the defending champions, with SERT, BMW and Kawasaki now covered by just five points.

8 Hours of Spa Motos Results

2026 FIM EWC 8 Hours of Spa Motos Results

2026 FIM Endurance World Championship Points

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