Crashes, pain, no qualifying points: YART under pressure ahead of the EWC finale

Whilst BMW celebrated securing pole position and five additional World Championship points, their main title rivals were left disillusioned. YART could not manage better than 7th on the grid in Bol d’Or qualifying and thus came away empty-handed from the first points-scoring round of the EWC season finale.

As a result, their lead over the BMW works team has already shrunk from 19 to 14 points even before the start of the 24-hour race. Yet qualifying was merely the provisional end to a race week in which hardly anything has gone to plan for YART so far.

“The race week so far has been exceptionally tough. Each of our three riders has crashed at least once,” summarised crew chief Max Neukirchner in an exclusive interview with SPEEDWEEK.com. His conclusion: “This week perfectly illustrates just how quickly things can change in motor racing: you can go from hero to zero in the blink of an eye.”

Behauptet YART die Nummer 1 beim Finale der Langstrecken-WM?

Foto: YART

The problems began as early as Tuesday’s test session, when Karel Hanika was involved in a serious crash through no fault of his own. The Czech rider escaped with injuries, but a Yamaha R1 was almost completely destroyed in the incident. Later, Leandro Mercado also crashed. The next setback followed on Thursday. On just his second lap of free practice, Marvin Fritz crashed at Turn 7. The German emerged unscathed, but once again an R1 was badly damaged.

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Hanika suffering from hand pain after crash

In the first qualifying session, Hanika was finally caught out again. His first fast lap was initially ruined by a red flag. An engine had blown on another motorbike on the start-finish straight, forcing the session to be interrupted.

After the restart, Hanika crashed whilst braking for Turn 1. “He sustained injuries and was in pain in his right hand, but was able to continue,” reported Neukirchner.

As a result, Hanika was left without a lap time in Q1. This created an additional problem for YART on Friday: the Czech rider urgently needed a valid lap in the second qualifying session to qualify for the race.

At the same time, there was a limited supply of tyre stickers. Instead of being able to go straight for a fastest lap, Hanika therefore had to take to the track on old tyres first. “Karel first had to set a valid lap on used tyres to qualify for the race. He managed that,” explained Neukirchner.

YART 2026: Marvin Fritz, Leandro Mercado, Karel Hanika

Foto: Yamaha

In the individual groups, Fritz finished 5th in Q2, Hanika came 8th and Mercado took second place in his group. This wasn’t enough for a significant improvement in the overall standings. The track conditions were another factor. Many rivals had already set their fastest laps on Thursday under more favourable conditions and with a tailwind. YART was unable to match these times on Friday and had to settle for seventh place in the combined qualifying standings.

This was particularly bitter in the title race: bonus points were only awarded to the top five teams. Whilst BMW bagged the maximum five points for pole position, YART’s tally remained unchanged.

Neukirchner: “We will never give up”

However, YART are determined not to let these setbacks unsettle them. Even during night-time practice, the team had shifted their focus from qualifying to the race and worked intensively on the set-up. In doing so, the team gained important insights into the tyre compounds at lower temperatures.

Neukirchner therefore believes his team is better positioned for the 24-hour race than 7th on the grid would suggest. “The team remains united, focused and highly motivated. The race set-up is good, the pit stops are working – and now all that matters is the 24-hour race,” emphasised the former World Superbike Championship rider.

After a week full of crashes and setbacks, the situation in the World Championship battle has become more difficult. But nothing has been decided yet. At the Bol d’Or, further World Championship points are awarded after eight and 16 hours, before the big haul of points for the race result follows on Sunday afternoon.

Neukirchner’s defiant statement ahead of the decisive 24-hour race is therefore clear: “We will never give up. No matter what happens.”