BMW #37 gains upper hand in EWC‘s finale over F.C.C. TSR Honda following pit-stop setback, while YART Yamaha holds third five hours into the Bol d’Or.
The intense duel for the lead of the 89th Bol d’Or continues to escalate between the #37 BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team and the #5 F.C.C. TSR Honda France. The Belgian-backed BMW squad has taken control of the race after the #5 Honda was forced into an unscheduled pit stop due to a botched refuelling attempt during its fifth service.
BMW’s advantage is further bolstered by superior fuel efficiency over its Japanese counterpart, allowing the M1000RR to stretch its stint lengths and run one fewer pit stop than the Honda.
The battle at the front has nevertheless been relentless, with the lap record falling in rapid succession. Michael van der Mark set a blistering pace on the #37 BMW with a 1:52.421, only for Corentin Perolari to immediately respond aboard the #5 Honda, matching and shaving down the benchmark time by 0,1s.
Despite the fierce pace at the front, the leading duo maintains a comfortable gap over the #1 YART Yamaha Official EWC Team, which remains consolidated in third place. SERT’s Suzuki #12 stands in fourth place ahead of Kawasaki’ Webike Trickstar’s #11 in fifth.
Further back, drama struck the fourth-placed #76 AutoRace Ube Racing Team BMW. Sylvain Guintoli suffered a heavy crash at Turn 10, resulting in a 40-minute pit repair. Although Kenny Foray eventually returned to the track, the bike was forced straight back into the garage as technical issues persisted. Now back on track, the #76 BMW stands at the back of the pack in 46th.
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