Spa-Francorchamps. The tension within the BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team finally evaporated after 24 intensive hours of racing at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (BEL); Markus Reiterberger (GER), Ilya Mikhalchik (UKR) and Jérémy Guarnoni (FRA) again finished on the podium with the #37 BMW M 1000 RR at round two of the 2023 FIM Endurance World Championship (FIM EWC), the 24H SPA EWC Motos. They produced a flawless performance to come home third at the home race for Werner Daemen (BEL) and his team. The trio had previously finished third at the opening race weekend in Le Mans (FRA). This season’s results make for happy reading so far; two races, two podium celebrations. The BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team also lies third in the Team world championship standings, 33 points behind the leaders.
The qualifying sessions on Friday confirmed that the BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team would again be among the top teams at Spa-Francorchamps, having taken victory there last year. The #37 BMW M 1000 RR secured second place on the grid.
On several occasions during the early stages of the race, Reiterberger, Mikhalchik and Guarnoni were unfortunate with safety car phases that cost them a lot of time after their pit stops. The result was that the trio dropped back down the field each time – once as far as 19th. However, Reiterberger, Mikhalchik and Guarnoni repeatedly worked their way back through the field, one position at a time.
By the eighth hour of the race, Reiterberger, Mikhalchik and Guarnoni had climbed as high as fourth place. They maintained that position through the night, thanks to consistently good lap times, efficient fuel consumption, flawless work from the riders and team, and a bike that was running smoothly – always poised to snatch a spot on the podium.
That opportunity came with three and a half hours remaining, when the #37 Suzuki team ahead of them encountered technical issues and dropped back. Reiterberger inherited third place, which he, Mikhalchik and Guarnoni comfortably maintained through to the finish. Even the onset of rain in the closing stages could not prevent them from claiming their second podium finish of the season.
Fresh from their debut victory in the Superstock class at the season-opener in Le Mans, the new Tecmas-MRP-BMW Racing Team again made a strong start to the race weekend. The team, making its first appearance at Spa-Francorchamps, set the pace in the Superstock class with the #9 BMW M 1000 RR. By the end of qualifying, Kenny Foray (FRA), Jan Bühn (GER) and Loïc Arbel (FRA) had secured pole position in their category. At the start of the race, Foray was able to match the pace of the EWC teams. However, the first setback was just around the corner. Foray was forced into the garage by a technical issue. The mechanics gave it their all and, after several hours of repair work, the Tecmas-MRP-BMW Racing Team was able to re-join the race in the evening. However, they ultimately had to retire the bike during the night.
The private BMW Team LRP Poland lined up at Spa-Francorchamps with the #90 BMW S 1000 RR. Julian Puffe (GER), Dominik Vincon (GER) and Pepijn Bijsterbosch (NED) were running in the top ten at times but struggled with various issues at several points of the race. After 24 hours of racing, Vincon pushed the bike to the finish line to the cheers of the spectators in the grandstand. However, in the provisional results list, the team is classed as non-classified.
Round three of the 2023 FIM EWC season, the 8 Hours of Suzuka (JPN), takes place on 6th August.
