Spa 24-Hour: BMW victorious in Belgium

Non-stop action and drama saw BMW Motorrad claim its first 24-hour FIM Endurance World Championship victory at Spa on Sunday.

As the EWC returned to Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps for the first time in 21 years, the Belgian track delivered a race that matched up to its legendary status.

BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team celebrated a maiden 24-hour EWC victory to follow up its breakthrough success in the six-hour 2021 season decider last October, with the circuit’s ultra-challenging nature and rain for the final five hours combining to ensure rider skill came very much to the fore in the 24H SPA EWC Motos.

As well as the efforts of riders Jérémy Guarnoni, Illya Mykhalchyk and Markus Reiterberger, BMW’s success owed plenty to the expertise of its Belgium-based team, led by former rider Werner Daemen, and the reliability of the Dunlop-equipped BMW M1000RR.

Kawasaki-powered and Pirelli-equipped Tati Team Beringer Racing excelled to finish as the top independent team in second overall with newcomer Loïc Arbel joining forces with existing French riders Grégory Leblanc and Alan Techer.

F.C.C. TSR Honda France was holding off Yoshimura SERT Motul for the final podium spot as both squads battled back from major setbacks during the night. A lengthy red flag period to enable the clean-up of a substantial oil spillage with less than three hours meant Gino Rea would have only a handful of laps to reclaim the third place he lost to home hero Xavier Siméon in the pitstop sequence prior to the race suspension. Despite the challenging track conditions, Rea and Siméon engaged in an intense battle for position with Rea coming out on top following several changes of position.

The result means the Suzuki-powered reigning champions and April’s