All the details on the EWC showdown at the Bol d’Or: weather, the World Championship three-way battle and the grid

24 hours will decide the outcome of an entire season: the Bol d’Or, and with it the final round of the 2026 World Endurance Championship, gets underway at 3 pm on Saturday at the Circuit Paul Ricard. After three races this season and qualifying, everything is still to play for in the battle for the world title.

The focus is on the duel between defending champions YART and the BMW works team. The Austrian Yamaha team travelled to Le Castellet with a 19-point lead, but suffered their first setback in qualifying.

BMW secured pole position with Markus Reiterberger, Steven Odendaal and Michael van der Mark, earning five crucial World Championship points in the process. After a difficult race week featuring several crashes, YART could not manage better than seventh on the grid and came away empty-handed from the weekend’s first points-scoring round.

As a result, YART’s lead has shrunk to just 14 points. The team led by team manager Mandy Kainz tops the World Championship with 112 points, with BMW following on 98 points.

SERT is lying in wait behind YART and BMW

But the title race is not just a two-horse race. Yoshimura SERT Motul has also put itself in a promising position with a strong qualifying session. Gregg Black, Etienne Masson and Dan Linfoot will start from third on the grid in their Suzuki GSX-R1000 and have 87 World Championship points to their name.

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This leaves SERT 25 points behind YART and just 11 behind BMW. In a 24-hour race, this situation can change quickly, especially as World Championship points are awarded on multiple occasions during the Bol d’Or (find out here how the EWC points system works).

Wird SERT der lachende Dritte sein?

Foto: SERT

SERT also has the advantage of last year’s experience. The Suzuki team won the 2025 Bol d’Or and knows how to succeed over the full distance at the demanding Circuit Paul Ricard. The GSX-R1000 is also regarded as an extremely reliable endurance bike – a characteristic that, over 24 hours, can be at least as crucial as pure lap times.

Behind the leading trio are Kawasaki Webike Trickstar on 73 points, AutoRace Ube on 64 and ERC Endurance on 55 points.

BMW on pole – YART only in 7th on the grid

In terms of speed, BMW has sent a clear message ahead of the race. Reiterberger, Odendaal and van der Mark clocked an average time of 1:50.837 minutes in qualifying and comfortably secured pole position.

AutoRace Ube, with Naomichi Uramoto, Sylvain Guintoli and Kenny Foray, will start the race from second on the grid. The Japanese BMW team recorded an average lap time of 1:51.445 mins. Just 0.125 seconds behind them, SERT – with Gregg Black, Etienne Masson and Dan Linfoot – follows in third place.

BMW ist vom puren Speed überlegen, aber hält das Material durch?

Foto: BMW

ERC Endurance will start from fourth place with Loris Baz, Marcel Schrötter and Jan-Ole Jähnig. F.C.C. TSR Honda rounds off the top five with Alan Techer, Corentin Perolari and John McPhee. For YART, however, the title defence begins from the third row of the grid. Karel Hanika, Marvin Fritz and Leandro Mercado recorded an average lap time of 1:51.885 minutes and had to settle for seventh on the grid.

However, too much importance should not be attached to starting position in a 24-hour race. The field is likely to reshuffle within the first few hours. As well as speed, the key factors are consistency, pit stops with as few errors as possible, and the reliability of the motorbikes.

Up to 28 degrees: the weather is a factor at the Bol d’Or

As things stand, at least the weather is unlikely to cause the teams any major concerns. Sunshine and temperatures of around 27 degrees Celsius are expected for the start on Saturday afternoon.

Overnight, temperatures will drop to around 14 degrees. Whilst this will significantly alter the operating window for tyres and motorbikes, no extreme conditions are expected.

On Sunday, it will be sunny again, with temperatures expected to reach up to 28 degrees during the day. Rain does not appear to be a major factor either: the probability is around 25 per cent for Saturday afternoon and just ten per cent for Sunday morning.

For BMW, the only option is to go on the attack

The starting position therefore promises a finale in which a tactical wait-and-see approach is unlikely to be feasible. BMW must make up 14 points on YART and, having secured pole position, has already fulfilled the first part of its mission.

Reiterberger had already set out the strategy in no uncertain terms before the weekend: “We have a strategy, and that is to win. We need the maximum and must be in pole position and in the lead after 8, 16 and 24 hours. That is our only chance.”

BMW startet von der Pole ins Bol d'Or

Foto: BMW

BMW has already bagged the first five points. However, YART remains in the stronger position and can draw on the experience gained from numerous 24-hour battles. Following a difficult week of practice and qualifying, the team’s focus is now entirely on the race.

And then there’s SERT: 25 points behind, starting from third on the grid, and with a motorbike that has already proven its reliability at the Bol d’Or on multiple occasions. After 24 hours, it will be clear who can call themselves the 2026 Endurance World Champion. Ahead of the start on Saturday at 3 pm, the battle for the crown is more open than ever.

Starting grid:

1. BMW (Reiterberger/Odendaal/van der Mark) – 1:50.837 min

2. AutoRace Ube (Uramoto/Guintoli/Foray) – 1:51.445

3. SERT (Black/Masson/Linfoot) – 1:51.570

4. ERC Endurance (Baz/Schrötter/Jähnig) – 1:51.570

5. F.C.C. TSR Honda (Techer/Perolari/McPhee) – 1:51.731

6. Tati Team (Clere/Di Meglio/Vinales) – 1:51.875

7. YART (Hanika/Fritz/Mercado) – 1:51.885

8. Kawasaki Webike (Ramos/Gamarino/Leblanc) – 1:52.121

9. Marc VDS (De Puniet/Marino/Bendsneyder) – 1:52.151

10. Team Etoile (Okubo/Ito/Toba) – 1:52.119 (Stock)

Standings after qualifying:

1. YART: 112 points

2. 
BMW: 98 points

3. 
SERT: 87 points

4. Kawasaki Webike: 73 points

5. AutoRace Ube: 64 points

6. ERC Endurance: 55 points

7. Bolliger Switzerland: 39 points

8. Motobox Kremer: 36 points

9. Honda HRC: 35 points

10. Maxxess by BMRT3D: 33 points