YART Triumphs at Le Mans
T
he 49th running of the 24
Heures Motos at the Bugatti
Circuit in Le Mans delivered a
classic FIM Endurance World
Championship opener, with the
Yamalube YART Yamaha Official
EWC Team emerging victorious
once again to claim back-to-
back wins following their 2025
success.
Riding the YZF-R1 number-
one, the trio of Karel Hanika,
Marvin Fritz and Niccolo Canepa
overcame a turbulent start to
secure the win. Despite starting
from pole position, YART com
-
pletely missed the launch off the
line and quickly slipped outside
the top five in the opening laps.
From there, the Austrian-backed
squad was forced into full recov-
ery mode, gradually rebuilding
momentum through the night
and into the early morning hours.
The race shifted dramatically
at dawn. The number-37 BMW M
1000 RR BMW Motorrad World
Endurance Team entry of Markus
Reiterberger, Steven Odendaal and
Michael van der Mark had con-
trolled much of the race through
the first 16 hours, even surviving
brutally cold night conditions that
dropped to around 40.
However, their challenge
unraveled in the second half. A
crash for van der Mark, followed
by a penalty after contact at turn
seven, and later a mechanical
issue, ended BMW's hopes of a
landmark Le Mans victory.
With its nearest rival eliminated,
YART Yamaha managed the clos
-
ing stages, maintaining a lead of
six laps to secure Yamaha's sixth
overall victory at Le Mans.
WIND
IN THE
P62
(From left) Leandro Mercado, Marvin
Fritz and Karel Hanika made up
for a slow start to take the second
straight Le Mans 24 Hours win for
the Yamaha Austria Racing Team.
