Just 14 points to go: Markus Reiterberger and BMW are turning the pressure up on YART!

The decisive part of the final weekend of the 2026 World Endurance Championship could hardly have got off to a better start for the BMW works team. In qualifying for the Bol d’Or, Markus Reiterberger, Steven Odendaal and Michael van der Mark secured pole position and with it five vital bonus points for the World Championship.

Going into the season finale, BMW trailed defending champions YART by 19 points. As the Austrian Yamaha team failed to finish in the top five in qualifying and thus missed out on bonus points, the gap was reduced to 14 points even before the start of the 24-hour race.

Reiterberger laid the foundations for pole

“I’m absolutely delighted with this pole position and with how well our package is working here,” beamed Reiterberger after his fabulous lap in Q2. “It was clear to us that we had to get the maximum out of it. And we’ve managed that. The team did a fantastic job and we were able to pick up five points.”

The Bavarian had set the pace in Q2’s blue group with a time of 1:50.930, becoming the first rider in qualifying to break the 1:51 mark. Remarkably, Reiterberger set his fast lap without any slipstream – a significant disadvantage at the Circuit Paul Ricard with its long Mistral straight.

Markus Reiterberger brillierte im Q2

Foto: BMW

The BMW driver had actually planned to be the first rider out on track. However, the session started five minutes later than scheduled and a traffic jam formed at the pit exit. Reiterberger’s plan was scuppered.

“On this track, slipstream is crucial. But I did my lap on my own,” the 32-year-old told SPEEDWEEK.com. “My plan was to be the first rider out on the track, but then the start of the session was delayed by five minutes. There was a traffic jam at the end of the pit lane and I was stuck in it for ages.”

The wait had another unpleasant consequence. “Then I nearly crashed on my first lap because the tyre had cooled down so much. I was right in the middle of the traffic and couldn’t find any slipstream.” Reiterberger finally decided not to wait any longer for a better opportunity. “I thought to myself: ‘Screw it, I’ll do the lap on my own.’ And I actually managed it.”

Odendaal also impressed with a significant improvement on his first qualifying session. Van der Mark provided the finishing touch. The Dutchman lapped the Circuit Paul Ricard in 1:50.744 minutes, setting the fastest lap of the entire qualifying session.

Michael van der Mark

Foto: BMW

“It’s great, of course, to be so fast. But we surprised everyone by managing to get all three drivers within striking distance of the lap record,” explained van der Mark. “That shows just how much work everyone has put into this project and that we have a package that works for all three drivers.”

Above all, the consistency of the BMW trio gives the Dutchman confidence ahead of the 24-hour race. “I’m very satisfied so far. We’ve done what we needed to do and bagged the five points.”

Van der Mark: Pole was practically a certainty

When van der Mark took to the track for the final Q2 session, his two team-mates had already set the pace. Consequently, the former World Superbike rider no longer needed to take any unnecessary risks.

“Markus and Steven had already set incredible lap times. That’s why we knew that pole position was pretty much a certainty,” reported van der Mark. “When I went out onto the track, I tried to push. But at the same time, I also had to stay smart.”

The fact that even more might have been possible in the end underlines the strong performance of the M1000RR. “I think we could have gone even faster. But we’ve achieved our most important goal, and that was pole position. We’d practically secured that by that point because Markus and Steven had done their job.”

Daemen defends YART after a difficult qualifying session

Whilst everything went to plan for BMW, championship leaders YART experienced a tough few days at the Circuit Paul Ricard. Karel Hanika was involved in a serious crash during Tuesday’s test. In the first qualifying session, the Czech rider crashed again and failed to set a lap time. YART were also unable to challenge for the top positions in Q2.

Werner Daemen

Foto: FIM EWC

BMW team boss Werner Daemen did not want to draw any hasty conclusions about the race based on his World Championship rival’s poor performance. “They had a lot of bad luck. It’s a very good team with very good riders and a very good motorbike,” emphasised the Belgian. “However, during Tuesday’s pre-race test, there was a serious crash at around 180 km/h. I think that’s why the rider isn’t at 100 per cent.”

Daemen understood that, following such an accident, they wouldn’t take every risk in qualifying. “After an accident like that, it’s not easy to risk another crash straight away. I think that’s the reason. Things didn’t go well for them, and they were unlucky.”

BMW has thus fulfilled the first part of its mission at the Bol d’Or. Pole position and the five bonus points are in the bag, and the gap to YART is now down to just 14 points. Reiterberger knows, however, that this was only the beginning: “We managed to make up five points on YART. Now it’s a case of staying on the ball, seeing it through and hopefully winning!”

On Saturday at 3 pm, the far more challenging part of the title chase begins: the 24 Hours of Bol d’Or.