Historic Suzuka podium: BMW, according to Reiterberger, “now fully in the World Championship fight!”

By finishing third in the Suzuka 8 Hours, the BMW works team has made motorsport history. For the first time since the endurance classic made its debut in 1978, a European manufacturer has made it onto the podium. Michael van der Mark, Markus Reiterberger and Steven Odendaal thus achieved a milestone for BMW.

At the same time, the BMW works team was the highest-placed permanent EWC team in the field. The top two places went to the works teams from Honda and Yamaha, which had been put together specifically for Suzuka and are not in contention for the Endurance World Championship title. As a result, BMW significantly reduced the gap to YART in the title race.

Could they have achieved even more in dry conditions?

Throughout the entire race week, the BMW M1000RR was among the fastest motorbikes. After securing second place in qualifying, it retained this position when the top-10 trial had to be cancelled due to the rain. In the race, the BMW works team held its own among the front-runners even under the most difficult conditions and confidently secured this historic podium finish.

“This is a milestone for us, for all European brands and especially for BMW,” said team manager Werner Daemen. “We’ve been working towards this since 2020. Last year we were already very close; this year we’ve secured a podium finish.”

For the Belgian, this historic success is not the end of the story. “I’m 100 per cent certain: if things continue like this next year, we can also be in contention for the win. I’m really very happy.”

Michael van der Mark: flawless and fast

Michael van der Mark, who has previously won at Suzuka, was also delighted with the team’s performance. “We can be really proud of third place. We were very strong throughout the week, and standing on the podium here at Suzuka is simply brilliant.”

Michael van der Mark nutzte seine Suzuka-Erfahrung

Foto: BMW

The Dutchman felt very much at ease in the difficult conditions. “I had a lot of fun on the bike. Even as the conditions got tougher, we were still very fast. It was great to be up front and fighting for a podium place.”

Van der Mark thought the race directors’ decision to finish the race behind the safety car in the closing stages was the right one. “Because of the heavy rain, conditions had already been very treacherous for several laps. In the end, that was the right decision.”

Markus Reiterberger finally makes it onto the Suzuka podium

For Markus Reiterberger, a long-cherished dream came true after several attempts. “We’ve finally made it onto the podium at Suzuka. I’ve been here with this motorbike and this team for many years – and now we’ve finally done it.”

Große Erleichterung bei BMW: Endlich auf dem Suzuka-Podium angekommen!

Foto: BMW

The Bavarian is convinced that even more would have been possible in dry conditions. “We’d been hoping for dry conditions, because I think even more would have been possible then. In the rain, it wasn’t quite so easy for us.” Nevertheless, the joy of this historic success prevailed. “The team did an outstanding job and we’re right back in the thick of the fight for the World Championship – and that’s the most important thing.”

Steven Odendaal becomes the first South African on the Suzuka podium

Steven Odendaal also praised the performance of the whole team. “I’d like to say a huge thank you to the whole team. Everyone worked to the very limits of their ability. We came here to fight for victory, and third place is a fantastic result.”

The South African is already looking ahead. “Huge credit to my team-mates – they’ve done an outstanding job. Now we’re looking forward to coming back next year.”

The final standings of the 2026 Suzuka 8 Hours:

1. Honda HRC (Rea, Takahashi, Chantra), Honda CBR1000RR-R, 188 laps

2. Yamaha Factory Racing (Nakasuga, Miller, Locatelli), Yamaha R1, +1:34.280 minutes

3. BMW Endurance (Reiterberger, Odendaal, van der Mark), BMW M1000RR, +1:44.087

4. YART (Hanika, Fritz, Mercado), Yamaha R1, +3:44.444

5. AutoRace Ube Racing (Uramoto, Guintoli, Ponsson), BMW M1000RR, +3:46.113

6. SERT (Black, Linfoot, Atsumi), Suzuki GSX-R1000R, +2 laps

7. Suzuki CN Challenge (Tsuda, Mizuno, Masson), Suzuki GSX-R1000R, +2 laps

8. SDG Team HARC-PRO Honda (Kunii, Nagoe, Abe), Honda CBR1000RR-R, +3 laps

9. Honda Asia-Dream Racing (Atiratphuvapat, Pawi, Putra), Honda CBR1000RR-R, +4 laps

10. Team ATJ (Iwata, Suzuki, Kunimine), Suzuki GSX-R1000R, +4 laps

The World Championship standings after 3 of 4 races:

1. YART, Yamaha R1 – 112 points

2. BMW Endurance, BMW M1000RR – 93

3. SERT, Suzuki GSX-R1000R – 84

4. Kawasaki Webike, Kawasaki ZX-10RR – 73

5. Autorace Ube Racing, BMW M1000RR – 60

6. ERC Endurance, BMW M1000RR – 53

7. Team Bolliger Switzerland, Kawasaki ZX-10RR – 39

8. Motobox Kremer, Yamaha R1 – 36

9. Honda HRC, Honda CBR1000RR-R – 35

10. Maxxess by BMRT3D, Kawasaki ZX-10RR – 33