Full throttle instead of economy mode: how BMW secured victory at the EWC in Spa

With its victory at the Spa 8 Hours, the BMW works team has re-established itself in the title race of the World Endurance Championship. Following the unfortunate start to the season at Le Mans and the disappointments of recent months, a huge weight has been lifted from the shoulders of those in charge.

“The relief is naturally immense. It’s lovely to see that,” said BMW Technical Director Chris Gonschor in an interview with SPEEDWEEK.com. However, the success came as no surprise to the engineer. In his view, the team had already shown the necessary potential in previous races, but had never been able to see it through to the finish.

“At the Bol d’Or, we couldn’t finish what we’d set out to do. Then we took the next step over the winter but couldn’t see it through at Le Mans. Now we’ve finally secured the win. So it wasn’t a surprise. Finishing without any bad luck this time is a source of great joy,” Gonschor summed up.

BMW back in the fight for the World Championship title

With its triumph in Belgium, BMW has significantly reduced the gap to championship leaders YART. For Gonschor, preparations for the remaining races of the season are already underway.

“Now it’s all about focusing fully on Suzuka and the Bol d’Or. We’ve got two races behind us – we lost one, we won one. We want to turn the tables and further reduce the gap to YART. They were strong here at Spa too.”

Chris Gonschor mit Werner Daemen

Foto: BMW

The BMW M1000RR was in particularly impressive form at Spa in dry conditions. However, Gonschor sees the bike’s strength as only part of the success story. He believes it was at least as important to make the right strategic decisions in the constantly changing conditions.

“The weather is always a tricky issue, not because you aren’t fast enough in the wet. It’s much more about timing the pit stop perfectly. But you can’t plan for the rain.”

At Spa-Francorchamps in particular, a wrong decision can change the outcome of a race within a matter of minutes. “If the rain comes a lap too late, you can be unlucky because you’ve just switched to slicks. That worry is always there, especially in the Ardennes.”

Efficiency: BMW opted for a more aggressive set-up than at Le Mans

Whilst BMW impressed at Le Mans with exceptionally long stints and maximum efficiency, the team took a slightly different approach at Spa. The aim was for the riders to have to make as few compromises as possible on the fast sections of the historic Belgian circuit.

“We opted for a very dynamic bike set-up at Spa so that the riders could stay at the front in the fast sections,” explained Gonschor. “So the efficiency factor was approached slightly differently here than at Le Mans.” For the eight-hour race, BMW deliberately shifted its priorities towards maximum performance.

BMW-Werksteam 2026: Van der Mark, Odendaal, Reiterberger

Foto: BMW

“Over 24 hours, it’s a different story anyway. Here, we were essentially running an eight-hour sprint race. We focused more on pure speed. That’s good for lap times and helps the riders on the fast sections. That’s why we scaled back the efficiency slightly compared to Le Mans.”

Why the Finns from the Superbike World Championship weren’t used

The Technical Director emphasises that the technical basis remained unchanged. “The bike was the same – it was capable of a podium finish at Le Mans and here too,” he summed up matter-of-factly. It is also interesting to look at the aerodynamics. Whilst BMW recently competed in the Superbike World Championship with new fins on the front of the M1000RR, the works team opted not to use this solution in the Endurance World Championship.

Die neuen Finnen am Bug der BMW M1000RR

Foto: WorldSBK

“They are two different championships,” explained Gonschor. “In the Superbike World Championship, it’s always about the ultimate lap time, which has to be repeated for a maximum of 20 laps over the weekend.” In the EWC, however, the priorities are different. “In endurance racing, you have to maintain a high average speed over the distance. You need to be able to consistently replicate lap times and can’t afford to make any mistakes. Not every minor aerodynamic feature is effective here.”

How BMW managed the intense pressure

The pressure before the race was nevertheless enormous. After the retirement at Le Mans, BMW could afford virtually no further setbacks. “The tension is always there, and it grows when you’re playing catch-up. We had to finish ahead of YART and the other competitors. That’s why there was a certain amount of tension.”

At the same time, the starting position made the strategy surprisingly simple. “We lost a lot of points at Le Mans. That’s why we had to make up a lot of points, and there was only one strategy for that: full attack.”

This philosophy ran through the entire project – from set-up to race strategy. “That was our approach, including in terms of efficiency. We went all in.” The courage paid off: BMW secured its first win of the season and has thrown the World Endurance Championship title race wide open once again.