Bol d’Or (8h): BMW keeps the World Championship exciting – YART suffers a pit stop blunder!

After the five-hour mark, darkness fell over the Circuit Paul Ricard. BMW continued to benefit from the high efficiency of the M1000RR, but F.C.C. TSR kept pace with a blistering pace and narrowly held onto the lead after the sixth pit stop.

AutoRace Ube had already lost a great deal of time due to Sylvain Guintoli’s crash and the subsequent repair stop. Shortly afterwards, another setback followed: Naomichi Uramoto was forced to park the M1000RR at the side of the track as flames shot out of the exhaust. For the BMW satellite team, which had started from second on the grid, this signalled the end of the race before it was really underway.

SERT applies pressure, but YART puts up a fight

Alongside the close battle for the lead, another thrilling duel was unfolding behind them. SERT rider Gregg Black was steadily closing the gap on Marvin Fritz on the YART R1. Given the points allocation at the eight-hour mark, this duel held particular significance: defending champions YART had gone into the season finale with a lead of just 14 points over the BMW works team.

SERT hat sich im Duell mit YART vorerst durchgesetzt

Foto: FIM EWC

Black and Fritz engaged in a direct battle over several laps. After 5 hours and 39 minutes, the SERT rider initially appeared to have gained the upper hand, but Fritz refused to give in and struck back shortly afterwards. It was only a pit stop by the number 1 Yamaha that brought the duel to a temporary halt.

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Disappointed faces at AutoRace Ube

After six hours, the Bol d’Or was officially over for AutoRace Ube. Naomichi Uramoto was particularly disappointed by the retirement because, in terms of pure pace, his team had been on a par with the BMW works team and a podium finish would have marked a strong end to the season. The Japanese rider confirmed that engine failure was the cause of the early retirement.

Sturzopfer Sylvain Guintoli sprach von einem technischen Problem

Foto: BMW

There were also problems for the second strong BMW customer team. ERC Endurance had to work on the motorbike in the pits once again following a crash. This set the team of Marcel Schrötter, Loris Baz and Jan-Ole Jähnig back significantly once again. By the time Baz returned to the track, ERC were down to 19th place and already ten laps behind.

Shortly before the six-and-a-half-hour mark, the moment finally arrived: the BMW works team had saved a full pit stop compared to F.C.C. TSR. As a result, the number 37’s lead on the track grew to just over a minute.

A moment of panic for YART: Hanika set off with the rear stand still engaged

After 6 hours and 38 minutes, YART made an unusual mistake during the pit stop. Karel Hanika set off even though the rear stand was still engaged. The Czech rider quickly realised his mistake and stopped in the pit lane to remove the stand. The incident cost the world champion team a few seconds.

Nach dem Stopp von YART kam es zu einem Zwischenfall

Foto: YART

YART crew chief Max Neukirchner later explained with a smile that Hanika had got back on the bike a little too quickly after the stop, meaning the mechanics did not have enough time to remove the rear stand. In a head-to-head battle with SERT for third place, YART gradually fell behind. After the eighth pit stop, the number 12 Suzuki was already a good 40 seconds ahead of the number 1 Yamaha.

BMW Endurance so far without any problems

For the leading BMW works team, on the other hand, everything continued to run like clockwork. The riders praised the handling of the M1000RR; everything was going according to plan. After seven hours, the number 37 bike had made one fewer pit stop than the other top teams. As a result, the lead over F.C.C. TSR had grown to 1 minute 20 seconds.

Alan Techer auf der Honda von F.C.C. TSR

Foto: FIM EWC

The crucial eight-hour mark was drawing nearer. Ten World Championship points were on the cards for the leading team. BMW bagged the maximum number of points and made up further ground on the World Championship leaders: YART was only in fourth place after a third of the race distance and received seven points. This reduced their lead to just eleven points.

Marvin Fritz auf der YART-R1

Foto: YART

The interim standings after 8 hours of racing:

To follow shortly.

Ein Drittel ist geschafft, es steht eine milde Nacht bevor

Foto: FIM EWC