Rd.2 - 8 Hours of Spa Motos - Final

YOSHIMURA SERT MOTUL REMAINS RESILIENT AT SPA

Yoshimura SERT Motul dug deep at today’s second round of the 2026 FIM Endurance World Endurance Championship, overcoming an early race setback to finish the 8 Hours of Spa in fourth place.

From fourth on the starting grid, Gregg Black claimed the holeshot and snatched an early lead. He settled into a comfortable third, biding his time and managing the pace well until, 30 minutes into the race, a fall at Les Combes where he lost the front end of the bike, saw him returning to the pits with a damaged bike.

Back in the pits, the technical crew reacted with their customary efficiency to replace the exhaust system. With no major damage found on the bike, the mechanics delivered a brilliant and quick turnaround, enabling Étienne Masson to rejoin the race just minutes later. Returning to the track two laps down and running at the back of the field, Masson immediately settled into an impressive rhythm. His determination allowed him to carve his way through the pack, climbing to 28th position by the end of the opening hour.

Dan Linfoot then jumped on to the saddle of the #12 Suzuki and continued the charge with the same intensity. Matching the pace of the race leaders, the British rider pushed the bike into the top 20, reaching 19th. After three hours of racing, the team had climbed to 14th place before rain began to complicate conditions around the Ardennes circuit.

Comfortable in the varying track conditions, Yoshimura SERT Motul handled the changing weather conditions with confidence. The constant change between showers and drying sections of track did nothing to halt the riders’ progress and, by half race distance, the team had climbed to a remarkable seventh place. The chargeback continued relentlessly. During the sixth hour, as the racing line dried, lap times improved once again, allowing the team to move up into fourth position.

Faced with fierce competition, the riders held firm and never relinquished that position until the chequered flag. After eight demanding hours, and 188 laps, Yoshimura SERT Motul crossed the line in fourth.

By adding 21 valuable points to its tally, Yoshimura SERT Motul now sits on 69 championship points, strengthening its hold on second place in the provisional standings of the 2026 FIM EWC season. Attention now turns to Japan and the legendary Suzuka 8 Hours, scheduled for July 3–5.

Yohei Kato – Team Director
Our main objective this weekend was to deliver a mistake-free race, so the early incident was obviously a setback. However, endurance racing demands resilience, and our team demonstrated exactly that. Despite the highly unpredictable weather conditions at Spa, the mechanics delivered flawless work in the pits throughout the race. Thanks to their continuous efforts, we were able to climb back through the field. This hard-earned fourth place gives us crucial championship points and keeps us firmly in the title fight. Our attention now turns to the Suzuka 8 Hours, which will mark the competition debut of the latest evolution of the Suzuki GSX-R1000R. We head to Japan with a clear mission: to fight at the front against the other factory teams.

Damien Saulnier – Team Manager
Naturally, we’re a little disappointed to finish just off the podium, but that’s endurance racing. After the crash early in the race, we lost a huge amount of time and dropped beyond 40th position. However, all three riders kept believing and never gave up on our chances. Fighting back to fourth place is a remarkable achievement against such strong opposition. I would also like to praise the exceptional work of our technical crew, who repaired the bike incredibly quickly. It has been a great sporting and human achievement. Our focus now shifts to Suzuka, a crucial event for Suzuki, where we will arrive with tremendous determination to reclaim the top of the championship standings.

Gregg Black – Rider Blue
We have to take the positives from this race because our primary objective was to score strong championship points, and we achieved that. I felt very comfortable on the bike at the start and wanted to stay with the leaders, but unfortunately, I got caught out. The incident cost us several minutes, but the mechanics did an incredible job to get us back on track quickly. The bike was extremely competitive, including in the wet conditions. My teammates also completed very strong stints to bring us back into contention for the podium. We are now looking forward to Suzuka, where recent testing of the 2026-spec machine has been very encouraging and gives us hope that we can challenge for victory.

Etienne Masson – Rider Yellow
There is inevitably some disappointment because we had the potential to achieve a great result. The competition was extremely strong and made no mistakes but, on our side, we also made the right calls, particularly regarding tyre choices. Our pace was very solid, and the bike performed brilliantly in all conditions. The early incident was unfortunate, but the team did an incredible job to get the bike back on track in record time. In the end, this fourth place rewards a fantastic collective effort and allows us to score vital points for the remainder of the season. Our rivals can be sure we’ll be a force to reckon with at the upcoming rounds.

Dan Linfoot – Rider Red
We have to focus on the positives and be proud of the incredible comeback we achieved. Incidents can happen to anyone in endurance racing, as I experienced myself at Suzuka last year. The entire team committed fully to fighting back from deep in the field to finish fourth. Those are extremely valuable championship points. Of course, as riders we always want to stand on the podium and win, but today we achieved the maximum possible result. As always, the pit stops were executed flawlessly. We are now fully focused on the Japanese round, where our objective will be to score as many points as possible.

Qualifying

1	BMW MOTORRAD WORLD ENDURANCE TEAM	BMW M1000RR	2:18.703
2	YART YAMAHA OFFICIAL EWC TEAM	YAMAHA YZF-R1	2:19.232
3	F.C.C. TSR HONDA FRANCE	HONDA CBR1000RR-R	2:19.390
4	YOSHIMURA SERT MOTUL	SUZUKI GSX-R1000R	2:19.614
5	KAWASAKI WEBIKE TRICKSTAR	KAWASAKI ZX-10R	2:19.849

Final

Pos.	Team	Machine	Laps
1	BMW MOTORRAD WORLD ENDURANCE TEAM	BMW M1000RR	192
2	YART YAMAHA OFFICIAL EWC TEAM	YAMAHA YZF-R1	192
3	KAWASAKI WEBIKE TRICKSTAR	Kawasaki ZX-10R	190
4	YOSHIMURA SERT MOTUL	SUZUKI GSX-R1000R	189
5	TATI TEAM AVA6 RACING	HONDA CBR1000RR-R	188

Ranking

Pos.	Team	Pts.
1	YART YAMAHA OFFICIAL EWC TEAM	91P
2	YOSHIMURA SERT MOTUL	69P
3	BMW MOTORRAD WORLD ENDURANCE TEAM	68P
4	KAWASAKI WEBIKE TRICKSTAR	64P
5	ERC ENDURANCE #6	49P
6	AUTORACE UBE RACING TEAM	43P
7	TEAM BOLLIGERr SWITZERLAND #8	34P
8	MAXXESS BY BMRT 3D	33P
9	MANA-AU COMPETITION	29P
10	MOTOBOX KREMER RACING BY 321	28P