2022 Bol d’Or: Yamaha wins race as Honda claims title

Yamaha’s Viltaïs Racing Igol claimed its first FIM Endurance World Championship victory st the Bol d’Or on Sunday.

Following a dramatic final 90 minutes at Circuit Paul Ricard for the 100th-anniversary Bol d’Or, the Viltaïs outfit overhauled fellow privateer Yamaha team Wójcik Racing for victory after long-term leader ERC Endurance-Ducati stopped with a mechanical failure while comfortably in front.

A final late twist having seen the Polish squad’s M1 slowed, forcing Mathieu Gines to push the bike to the pitlane for repairs. When Dan Linfoot eventually returned the #77 machine to the track more than five minutes had been lost, along with all hopes of victory, Florian Alt, Erwan Nigon and Steven Odendaal claiming the spoils for the 85th edition of the French race.

Wójcik Racing’s eventual second place still represents its best finish of the season with Webike SRC Kawasaki France third in what was boss Gilles Stafler’s final EWC race before he retires.

For ERC riders David Checa and Xavi Forés, however, their late heartbreak was extremely tough to take after they’d shared riding duties for a large part of the race when Chaz Davies hurt his back and couldn’t continue. Despite the highly emotional scenes in the team garage, Checa regained his composure to return to the action for the last hour following rapid repairs by his German outfit, eventually meeting the flag in fifth.

A fourth place finish meant the 2022 FIM Endurance World Championship title was claimed by F.C.C. TSR Honda France. The team, composing of Josh Hook, Mike Di Meglio and Alan Techer - who rode in place of the injured Gino Rea - suffered multiple mechanical issues throughout the 24-hour race before completing the event four laps down on the eventual