BMW Dominates Bol d’Or Qualifying as #37 Takes Pole

The #37 BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team secured pole position for the 2026 Bol d’Or, the fourth and final round of the FIM EWC season at Circuit Paul Ricard. By earning pole, the team collected five vital bonus points in their title fight against points leader #1 YART Yamaha, who will have to start the 24-hour race from seventh on the grid.

The four-rider crew of Markus Reiterberger, Steven Odendaal, Michael van der Mark, and Jérémy Guarnoni set the pace, highlighted by Van der Mark breaking the all-time track record with a lap time of 1:50.704 during Thursday's Free Practice in his first appearance at the venue. The #76 AutoRace Ube Racing Team BMW took second to lock out a BMW 1-2 and collect four points. Three-time race winner Suzuki #12 finished third for three points, ahead of BMW #6 in fourth with two points, and #5 F.C.C TSR Honda France picking up the final qualifying point in fifth.

In the Superstock class, the #25 BMW of Team Étoile claimed pole position and five bonus points with riders Hikari Okubo, Motoharu Ito, Kaito Toba, and Rei Toshima, closing the gap on championship leader #38 BMW. Meanwhile, High Side April Moto Louit earned pole position in the Production category with the #33 Kawasaki crew of Adrian Parassol, Badreddine Benlekehal, Alex Sarrabayrouse, and Dylan Buisson.