Let's Talk MotoGP: You Missed Something Amazing

Si Let's talk MotoGP is usually focused on the Grand Prix ecosystem, I allow myself one or two off-track trips from time to time; today, I want to tell you about an incredible race that you may have missed. It's time to talk about the 24 2025 Heures Motos, an edition that I won't soon forget.

 

A championship not to be overlooked

 

You know my love for the MotoGP, but this passion extends to other motor sports. Endurance plays a very important role in my life., whether on two or four wheels. As a result, the 24 Heures Motos, like the other stages of the EWC World Championship, do not escape my attention.

As a reminder, the 24 Heures Motos, created in 1978, is contested every year on the Bugatti circuit. The scale of the event is nothing like the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans, but I find this competition too underrated and neglected by Grand Prix fans. I wish that would change, so let me give you some reasons why.

 

 

First, it's a question of manufacturers. The variety of the EWC and the strong identity of each team that competes to win is unmatched. Certainly, Ducati is not – yet – represented by an official formation, but Kawasaki, Yamaha , BMW, Honda et Suzuki are there and on an equal footing! Any of these giants could have won last weekend. These firms are represented by European branches – Suzuki with SERT or Yamaha with YART in Austria – but the Suzuka 8 Hours, undoubtedly the premier event of this four-race championship, is marked by the presence of HRC, which brings top-tier riders like Johann zarco.

Second, it's one of the last top-level sports without a single tire manufacturer. The top teams all ride Bridgestone, but ERC BMW, third at the finish of the 24 Heures Motos, was equipped with Dunlop. There are also Pirelli, Michelin, and Kingtyre, Chinese tires. This diversity is a pleasure to see: It's a change from a MotoGP championship which is ultimately quite standardized., where it would be difficult to recognize the motorcycles without their decoration.

In addition to the Suzuka 8 Hours and the 24 Heures Motos, the calendar is completed by the 8 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps and the Bol d'Or. These are very exciting events. Even if we can regret a number of rounds which is far too low for our time, each step is therefore of capital importance.

 

 

A crazy race

 

All of this is well and good, but let's get down to business. The 24 2025 Heures Motos, precisely, was magnificent. One could logically expect a Suzuki/Yamaha duel, since the two entities had dominated the tests and the qualifications. But the weather complicated the debate. The start of the race, absolutely crazy, was marked by the fall of more or less all the favorites: Martin Fritz, on a Yamaha, fell at the Raccordement at the end of the very first lap. About ten minutes later, Gregg Black, on a Suzuki, did the same. Moreover, The Franco-British performed in a disappointing way, punctuated by four falls (!) out of the six of the Suzuki, including three in ten minutesIt happens to even the best. Everyone was walking on eggshells, yet few escaped. The factory Kawasaki quickly found itself at the forefront thanks to its consistency. This approach allowed the Greens to take first place from YART before midnight.

Kawasaki never really managed to widen the gap on this YZF-R1, which I felt was faster; the proof is that the two were holding their own, while the French riders suffered three falls. Then, in the morning, and although he hadn't made any mistakes, Mike Di Meglio fell on the Kawasaki. It was a bad return for the Frenchman, who was chasing his fourth victory for three different manufacturers. Yamaha closed in, but was unable to overtake. Tension gripped the stands as the minutes ticked by.

And then the unthinkable happened. Roman Ramos, who rode a near-perfect race on this Kawasaki, fell one hour before arrival at the Connection, exactly where Fritz had crashed after the first lap. YART-Yamaha took the lead and thus took its first victory at Le Mans since 2009. Grégory Leblanc, third man on the cursed ZX-10R, cried when he saw Ramos trying to lift the bike out of the gravel trapHe experienced the finest hours of the SRC and was chasing his sixth victory at the 24 Heures Motos, something no one has ever achieved. He came so close, yet so far.

 

 

More than 200 falls, nail-biting suspense, high stakes for all participants... everything was there.

 

Where the spirit of endurance resides

 

This race showed that the EWC is perhaps the last true endurance championship at world level. Along with the best teams, pure amateurs race, who sometimes struggle to find budgets. The Superstock category is full of magnificent stories, like that of Mélodie Coignard, who competed in this edition in honor of her partner Stéphane Egea, who passed away last December.

And then, more than anywhere else, the notion of endurance comes to life. YART-Yamaha proved it: you can fall three times and still win.

 

Did you miss it?

 

This deliberately provocative title directly resonates with the audience present on site. I know that true two-wheel enthusiasts particularly love these races, but the difference with the French GP held a month later is obvious in terms of attendance. Once upon a time, the Bol d'Or was an integral part of biker culture, but the 24 Heures Motos has a bad reputation, mainly because of some irresponsible people getting too agitated in the campsites. Even so, there have been improvements, so I hope the stands will fill up in the coming years.

Did you follow these 24 Heures Motos 2025? Tell me in the comments!

As a reminder, this article only reflects the thoughts of its author, and not of the entire editorial team.

 

 

Cover photo: Kawasaki Webike Trickstar