Marvin Fritz (YART) after losing the title: “We have nothing to regret!”

For Marvin Fritz and YART, the Bol d’Or ended in disappointment. After 24 hours, Fritz, Karel Hanika and Leandro Mercado finished in third place. As BMW, with Markus Reiterberger, Michael van der Mark and Steven Odendaal, took the win, YART had to concede the World Championship title to the German manufacturer.

However, Fritz did not want to dwell for long on the missed opportunity to defend their title. “It was a tough race for us, but we have no regrets. We gave it our all,” the German explained exclusively to SPEEDWEEK.com.

Even before the race started, YART had had an exceptionally difficult week. Hanika, in particular, was thrown violently to the ground on two separate occasions.

“After those two heavy crashes, Karel’s hand was injured. He crashed twice through no fault of his own,” reported Fritz. “On one occasion, the motorbike in front of us, the National-Motos Honda, cut out, and we both crashed into it. In qualifying, he skidded on an oil spill whilst braking – at the start/finish line at over 200 km/h.”

Four write-offs push YART to the limit

The numerous incidents pushed not only the riders but also the mechanics and the parts stock to their limits. “It was a tough week for us. We had four complete write-offs where absolutely everything was wrecked. We didn’t have many parts left for the race. It was really intense,” says Fritz, highlighting the scale of the problems.

The start of the 24-hour race didn’t go perfectly for him either. After the first lap, Fritz was only in 16th place, but he quickly fought his way through the field. “The start of the race wasn’t perfect, but I made up ground quickly,” recalls the 33-year-old. Fritz also felt YART was competitive in terms of pure pace: “Up until halfway through the race, I held the fastest lap time and was ultimately just under a tenth of a second behind the Honda, which was slightly faster.”

Marvin Fritz fuhr starke Nacht-Stints

Foto: YART

The Yamaha team made up ground particularly during the night. “We worked well and were clearly the fastest during the night. We made up just under two minutes on F.C.C. Honda,” reports Fritz.

The pressure on the Honda continued to mount. “We’d been putting the pressure on them well beforehand and were now only a few seconds behind them.” Later, John McPhee crashed, causing F.C.C. TSR to lose several laps and allowing YART to move up to third place.

SERT prevents YART from retaining their title

This meant YART were just one place short of successfully defending their title. The Yamaha team had to catch the second-placed Suzuki from Yoshimura SERT Motul in order to retain the world championship in the event of a BMW victory.

“Of course, we pushed hard right to the end to catch up with SERT. But they were strong too – you have to give them credit for that,” emphasises Fritz. YART were unable to make up the ground in the decisive lap.

Schnell und konstant: Marvin Fritz fuhr ein fehlerfreies Rennen

Foto: YART

The German also acknowledges the new world champion’s performance: “BMW rode well. It was obviously frustrating for us. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Of course, you learn more when you lose.”

Fritz is therefore already setting his sights on the coming season: “We’ll try to learn the right lessons so we can strike back against BMW next year.”

Fritz draws a positive conclusion from the season

Despite missing out on the World Championship title, Fritz sees no reason to view the season negatively. “All in all, it was a great season for us, with our second consecutive Le Mans victory. We made it onto the podium in two further races and finished fourth at Suzuka.”

Fritz also views his first season alongside Leandro Mercado in a positive light. The Argentine was a new addition to the YART works team and initially had to get used to the Yamaha R1 and the Bridgestone tyres.

Marvin Fritz auf der Yamaha R1 von YART

Foto: YART

“Tati’s first season was really good and we’re convinced he’ll be even stronger next year,” says Fritz. “In your first year as a works rider, you’re under pressure and don’t want to make any mistakes. Next year, he’ll know the bike and the tyres on every circuit. The calendar remains the same.”

After losing the world championship, YART will compete with start number 7 again in 2027. Fritz draws motivation from this too: “We’re feeling positive and looking forward to next year – then with our beloved start number 7!”

An impressive track record over five years

YART’s track record over recent years also shows that finishing second in the World Championship is by no means a foregone conclusion. Since 2022, the team has finished every season in one of the top two places in the World Championship. Fritz sums it up: “Runner-up, World Champion, runner-up, World Champion, runner-up – those were five good years for us.”

And despite the disappointment at Le Castellet, pride therefore prevails: “A huge thank you to Yamaha and to YART. It’s incredible what the team has achieved this week. I’m proud of our team and my team-mates.”