FIM Endurance World Championship – BMW WIN AT MOST BY A WHISKER AHEAD OF YART.

The first edition of the 6 Hours of Most won’t be forgotten in a hurry. A crazy duel was fought during the last few minutes of the race between BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team (Ilya Mikhalchik, Markus Reiterberger and Kenny Foray) and YART–Yamaha Official EWC Team (Marvin Fritz, Karel Hanika and Niccolò Canepa). The German riders Markus Reiterberger for BMW Motorrad and Marvin Fritz for YART offered viewers a spectacular fight for the win. A mere 70 milliseconds separated the two machines at the finish. An absolute first in world Endurance! Over the last half-hour, Marvin Fritz beat the fastest race lap four times. He set the final record, a 1:33.875, on his second-last lap.

It was also BMW’s very first victory in the FIM Endurance world championship.

The duel nearly eclipsed the fight for third place on the podium between Yoshimura SERT Motul and Webike SRC Kawasaki France Trickstar. The Franco-Japanese Suzuki team (Gregg Black, Xavier Simeon and Sylvain Guintoli) fended off the attacks of the French Kawasaki to the very end. Yoshimura SERT Motul’s objective was to win a 17th world title in style and also climb on to the podium at Most. They achieved their objective.

Thanks to their win, BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team claimed the overall runner-up spot.

Webike SRC Kawasaki France Trickstar (Jérémy Guarnoni, Erwan Nigon and David Checa) finished 4th at the 6 Hours of Most after running a flawless race. The factory Kawasaki team wound up the season on the third step of the overall podium.

Wójcik Racing Team (Gino Rea, Sheridan Morais and Dan Linfoot), who were at the front of the field throughout, finished 5th at Most. It was their best result following a tough season.

ERC Endurance-Ducati (Etienne Masson, Lorenzo Zanetti and Mathieu Gines) made progress at every race and were 6th at the finish ahead of the first Superstock, No Limits Motor Team (Luca Scassa, Kevin Calia and Alexis Masbou).

The Czech team TME Racing took 2nd place in the Superstock class after a superb race among the Superstock front-runners. Energie Endurance 91, 3rd in the Superstock class, climbed on to the podium in class for the first time.

BMRT 3D Maxxess Nevers, the winners of the FIM Superstock World Cup at the Bol d’Or, were forced to withdraw. Thanks to their win at Most, No Limits Motor Team claimed the runner-up spot in the FIM Endurance World Cup.

6 hours of flat-out racing
After Gregg Black’s holeshot in the saddle of Yoshimura SERT Motul’s Suzuki, Mike di Meglio placed F.C.C. TSR Honda France in the lead. Ilya Mikhalchik quickly took over the lead for BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team while Marvin Fritz was doing a fast climb back up after a sluggish start from pole.

The first incidents affected the leading pack two hours into the race. F.C.C. TSR Honda France crashed and ended up not classified. Tati Team Beringer Racing and Moto Ain also crashed when they were in the Top 10, followed by VRD Igol Experiences whose Yamaha suffered engine failure.

VRD Igol Experiences were 7th and determined to defend their 2nd place in the overall standings. They were not classified despite a lap pushing the bike to get past the finish line, but their determination won them the Anthony Delhalle EWC Spirit Trophy.