2026 Bol d’Or: #37 BMW leads opening hour as YART Yamaha recovers from slow start

The #37 BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team took the lead during the opening hour of the 2026 Bol d’Or EWC finale at Circuit Paul Ricard in Le Castellet. Meanwhile, the defending champions #1 YART Yamaha mounted a rapid recovery following a difficult start.

At the start, despite pole-sitter #37 BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team making a solid start with Michael van der Mark, Gregg Black of the #12 Yoshimura SERT Motul Suzuki snatched the early lead into Turn 1. However, the #12 machine gradually slipped back to fifth position. Further back, the #1 YART Yamaha suffered a slow getaway, dropping from seventh to 16th, but sliced through the field to recover to fourth within the first 30 minutes.

After the first hour, #37 BMW leads the race ahead of AutoRace Ube Racing Team’s BMW #76 in second and F.C.C. TSR Honda France’s Honda #5 in third. With 23 hours remaining, the race at Circuit Paul Ricard remains wide open.

In the Superstock class, title contenders Aprilia #49 Revo-M2 and BMW #25 Team Étoile collided early on. Both machines were fortunately able to rejoin the race, leaving the entire grid intact with no DNFs in the opening hour.