The second round of the EWC World Endurance Championship will take place this weekend in Belgium with the 24 Hours of Spa Motos. Two months after the 24 Heures Motos at Le Mans, a little refreshment is not superfluous…
After the Le Mans event on the Bugatti circuit, the team FCC TSR Honda France has 63 points, the YART Yamaha Official Team EWC 54, BMW Motorrad World Endurance 39, ERC Endurance Ducati 38, Honda Viltaïs Racing 36, Tati Team Beringer Racing 33, Yoshimura SERT Motul 23 tied with Kawasaki Webike Trickstar.
At Spa, you can win 40, 33, 28, 24, 21, 19, 17, 15, etc. up to 1 for the 20th place, plus 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 for the first five places on the grid, plus 10, 9, 8, etc. for the first ten after 8 hours and after 16 hours of racing. That's a maximum of 65.
Will BMW be victorious again at Spa?
Last year, the team BMW Motorrad World Endurance celebrated the return of the 24 Hours of Spa Motos to the EWC calendar by securing his first victory over 2 laps of the clock. With a machine that has gained in reliability this season and a team whose workshops are located very close to the Belgian circuit, Werner Daemen obviously doesn't dream of anything other than a new victory on the Ardennes slide.
The YART wants its revenge!
After leading the race for 18 hours, the YART Yamaha Official Team EWC was forced to retire last year following an engine failure.
The Austrian team is counting on the work carried out during the winter which made its Yamaha's engine more reliable to take its revenge. By getting on the podium in the first race at Le Mans, YART has already demonstrated that this year we could count on the Yamaha #7, even over two laps of the clock.
FCC TSR Honda France in the lead!
Winner of the first race of the EWC season on the Bugatti circuit, Mike Di Meglio, Josh Hook and Alan Techer will once again be among the candidates for victory on the Spa-Francorchamps circuit. Especially since last year, the team FCC TSR Honda France, then on his way to the world title, slipped onto the third step of the podium at the 24h of Spa Motos. With an even more advanced bike, Masakazu Fujii, the boss of the Japanese team, has no other objective than to add the Belgian Classic to his list of achievements.
Yoshimura SERT MOTUL in search of redemption!
Forced at Le Mans to make an impossible comeback after Gregg Black's fall at the first corner of the first lap of the race, the team's Suzuki Yoshimura SERT MOTUL still crossed the finish line of the 24 Heures Motos in seventh position. At Spa, on a circuit where they finished last season just off the podium, the drivers of Yohei Kato and Damien Saulnier will be looking for redemption. Before the Suzuka Eight Hours and the final at the Bol d'Or, the team Yoshimura SERT MOTUL must go for victory in the Ardennes to take back the world crown from the FCC TSR Honda France team.
Ducati as an outsider!
In constant progress for two seasons, the team ERC Ducati he also arrives at Spa with solid ambitions. Having come very close to victory at the Bol d'Or, fifth two months ago during the opening round of the championship at Le Mans, the Endurance Ducati Panigale dreams of shining like its cousin does in WSBK in the hands of 'Álvaro Bautista. Forced to abandon in Belgium in 2023, Uwe Reinhardt's men want their revenge.
KM99 at home!
Bastien Mackels has been waiting to start the 24h of Spa Motos for over a year now. Last season, while he was delighted to realize a childhood dream by participating in this legendary event, back on the EWC calendar, the Belgian driver was injured a few days earlier during an IDM championship race and had had to give up. This time, Bastien Mackels will indeed be there. Associated with Lucas Mahias and Florian Marino within the new KM99 team. The stage local even dreams of the podium.
Something new at Kawasaki Webike Trickstar!
Now managed by Ryuji Tsuruta's Kawasaki Webike Trickstar team, Kawasaki's entry in EWC is in the adjustment phase. At Le Mans, for the opening of the championship, the ZX-RR #11 took the checkered flag in eleventh position. A fall and small adjustment problems slowed down his progress. To increase the pace, Gregory Leblanc will join Randy de Puniet and Kazuki Watanabe at Spa. The Frenchman knows the Kawasaki well having already won numerous victories on its handlebars.
Two records to beat!
The 24 Hours of Spa having returned to the EWC calendar last season on a revamped circuit, the records established by Karel Hanika and Sylvain Guintoli during qualifying and in the race should be beaten this year. But by whom?
The pilot of the YART Yamaha had won pole in 2'18”845 while the Frenchman had set the best time in the race for the Yoshimura SERT Motul in 2’21”056.
