After 16 hours: Big race but big Spa drama for leading EWC teams as BMW squad moves in front

The race to win the 24H SPA EWC Motos has been turned on its head overnight with Yoshimura SERT Motul and F.C.C. TSR Honda France both leading but hitting trouble on the legendary Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. Yoshimura SERT Motul was on top after 10 hours of thrilling FIM Endurance World Championship action only for Sylvain Guntoli to be forced to pit for a replacement clutch and gearbox for his Bridgestone-equipped Suzuki GSX-R1000R.

The work took more than 25 minutes to complete and has wrecked hopes of a home win for Belgian rider Xavier Siméon in the process. Ad/> F.C.C. TSR Honda France took advantage of the misfortune that hit its fellow Japanese team but there was despair when Gino Rea was onboard the CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP as the chain failed after 15 hours of running.

It left the Briton with no choice but to push the stricken bike back to the pits. That delay plus the 15 minutes spent making repairs dropped F.C.C. TSR Honda France down to 10th place.

FIM EWCWho scored what after eight hours of Spa EWC action?7 HOURS AGO “It’s unbelievable, we put every foot right the whole race and everybody has done a great job, we did everything right,” said Rea. “I know it’s endurance racing, it happened to Suzuki as well but the chain coming off is not what you expect. It’s frustrating to say the least so we just have to keep on and get a result at least but it’s not the result we wanted.” A minor brake issue aside, there have been no such problems for Belgium-based BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team, which is leading its home round of the EWC with an advantage of more than one minute over YART – Yamaha Official Team EWC with eight hours of the day and night race remaining.