EWC Bol d'Or Friday: BMW on pole!

BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team ended Yamalube YART Yamaha EWC Official Team's dominance in qualifying for the 2024 FIM Endurance World Championship, securing pole position for the Bol d'Or and keeping the pressure on in their quest for a first EWC title at this weekend's Bol d'Or 24-hour race.

After starting in first position at Le Mans, Spa and Suzuka, YART finished second behind BMW, which also took pole at Circuit Paul Ricard 12 months ago and in 2022.

By being the fastest, the BMW with Dunlop tyres collected five points to take its total to 77, while YART scored four points to take its total to 120. Yoshimura SERT Motul finished the Second Qualifying in third place and with a new provisional score of 113. With a maximum of 65 points still to be won, BMW remains firmly in the title race.

The qualifying standings are based on the average times set by the two fastest drivers in each crew over the two sessions, but after she made her mark on Thursday afternoon's First Qualifying thanks to Ilya Mykhalchyk et Markus Reiterberger, the Second Qualification was a game of patience for the Belgian-based team and its new recruit, Hannes Soomer, which replaces Sylvain Guintoli for the Bol d'Or, as well as the replacement Jan-Ole Jähnig .

Le Tecmas MRP BMW Racing Team took pole position in the FIM Endurance World Cup equipped by Dunlop. TheHungarian Endurance Racing Team by Moto-Jungle, which makes its EWC debut this weekend, taking second place ahead of Team Étoile, it is a hat-trick that BMW has obtained in this Superstock category.

“I want to say a big thank you to the team, they provided a very good package for the bike,” said Ukrainian pilot Mykhalchyk . “We have been very strong in previous years here and this year our goal was to get as many points as possible in qualifying and we did that. The bike behaved very well in the strong wind. It gave me good confidence not to have any feelings disturbed by the conditions and I could concentrate on my route. I did a pretty good lap and today we focused on the race set-up with the used tyres and I did well too. It gave us a good feeling for the race; we are ready and we hope to have a good race.”

Regarding BMW's title chances, Mykhalchyk added: “Last year I set the fastest lap time in the race, but the goal is of course to be the fastest in every stint, whatever the weather conditions. It seems like we are ready, and my teammates are ready too. The goal is to set good laps, good stints and if we put our all into it, I think we will finish really well.”

For Austria-based YART, second place represents a two-position improvement on the fourth place they achieved in qualifying at Circuit Paul Ricard in 2023 with the drivers Nicolò Canepa , Marvin Fritz et Karel Hanika . Canepa, who will retire after the Bol d'Or, said: “BMW and the drivers are exceptional on this track, and we knew that fighting for pole would be very difficult. But I am very happy because last year we were fourth and it is a track where we usually struggle a lot, especially in qualifying. So to have the second fastest time is really great and we are really happy.”

With its winning crew of the 24 Heures Motos composed of Greg Black , Dan Linfoot et Etienne Masson restored, Yoshimura SERT Motul secures third place ahead of Honda Viltaïs Racing , FCC TSR Honda France , Tati Team Beringer Racing , KM99 , Kawasaki Webike Trickstar et Team Bolliger Switzerland.

Linfoot, who is targeting four consecutive podiums in 2024, said: “We lose one more point to Yamaha and we can’t be happy about it. The wind is a problem for everyone and I hope it will be better for the race so we can have a better feeling. But anything can happen in a 24-hour race and we have to be positive about starting like this.”

The Tecmas MRP BMW Racing Team took pole position for the FIM Endurance World Cup, organized by Dunlop, thanks to a tactical masterstroke with the pilots Loïc Arbel, Jan Bühn et Kenny Foray . The Hungarian Endurance Racing Team by Moto-Jungle , making his EWC debut this weekend, placed second, followed by Team Star in a BMW triplet.

Arnaud Sassone, Tecmas team manager, explains: “Pole position is a good satisfaction because it has been an eventful season and to get back to the top of the category shows the quality of the team and the drivers. We looked at the weather yesterday and concluded that the conditions would not allow us to be as fast as we wanted. It was a risky gamble this morning and it paid off. I am quite confident for the race but there is certainly pressure on the result because of the season we have had.”

Q2 blue drivers: