F.C.C. TSR Honda France victorious in FIM EWC 8 Hours of Spa Motos

2025 FIM Endurance World Championship
Round Two – 8 Hours of Spa Motos
Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium

F.C.C. TSR Honda France is a winner again in the FIM Endurance World Championship after Corentin Perolari and Alan Techer rode as a pair to claim victory in the 8 Hours of Spa Motos.

A result that ends a barren run stretching back to the 24 Heures Motos at Le Mans in April 2023 followed a dramatic rain-hit race at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps today.

Despite a slow start from Marvin Fritz and a fall by the German former lap record holder, Yamalube YART Yamaha EWC Official Team was on course for back-to-back EWC wins and a second consecutive triumph in Belgium.

That was until a crash for YART’s Jason O’Halloran with 90 minutes remaining led to almost four minutes being lost in the pits while repairs were made – and a change of leader.

F.C.C. TSR Honda France had been the team to beat during the mainly dry early running with Perolari and Techer taking it in turns to star at the front.

A frantic scrap for first between Techer and YART’s Karel Hanika followed before heavy rain shortly after 1500 local time changed the complexion of the race.

Capitalising on his wet-weather riding skills, O’Halloran was the rider to beat before a 10-second stop-go penalty, handed to the Austrian team for a refuelling infringement, gifted the lead to Perolari.

Even with 43s spent in the pits as he served the penalty, O’Halloran didn’t give up and retook the lead in increasingly heavy rain at 1846 local time. But a heavy fall 15 minutes later left the #7 Yamaha with damage and the #5 Honda out in front all the way to the finish at 2030.

After claiming his maiden EWC race win, Frenchman Perolari said: “I’m very happy, it was a very good job by the team and thanks for the team and Alan, I’m very happy. Incredible.”

Spa newcomer Taiga Hada also lined up for F.C.C. TSR Honda France but with Japanese rider lacking experience of the ultra-challenging 6.985-kilometre lap and its changeable weather conditions, the decision was taken for only Perolari and Techer to race.

“For us it’s just unbelievable,” said Techer. “For two years we have proved we are faster but every time we have some troubles. This winter we changed a lot of things in the team, many new people. In Le Mans we had some bad luck. We knew in this race we had good pace in the dry conditions but in the wet conditions we were a little more struggling than the other teams. But the mistake from YART provided a big result for us.”

“It was a hard race, especially with the weather it was not so easy but my team and my team-mates did an awesome job,” said Reiterberger. “I did my best on and off the track. I think I know where we can improve but we are happy, especially in these conditions. It’s a good opportunity now for our championship goal and we focus now on Suzuka.”

O’Halloran, who excelled in the wet conditions on his second EWC start and his first at Spa, said: “A great day for the team, the YART guys done an amazing job and Karel and Marvin rode really strong all throughout the race. Marvin started really good and Karel finished really strong. Happy to get back to the podium but disappointed not to win. There was a yellow flag and as I came back online I had a big high-side. Sorry to the team for that, I thought we had the pace that deserved to win but it wasn’t to be and we’ll back stronger and try to get the top step in Suzuka.”

Mandy Kainz – Yamalube YART Yamaha EWC Official Team Manager

“It was a superb performance from the whole team. We had really good pace in all conditions, with Marvin and Karel spearheading the attack in the dry, and Jason showing everyone what he is capable of in the wet. We had worked so hard to build a lead, and we were still in front even after Marvin’s little crash. Unfortunately, we had a stop-and-go penalty for a small mistake, which cost us over 40 seconds, but Jason managed to retake the lead before his crash. He was unlucky, as he was caught behind a slower bike during a yellow flag, and it was the kind of crash that could happen to anyone; we are just grateful he is okay. After that, Karel put in an amazing double stint at the end to catch and overtake the team in third, and we can be happy with our sixth podium in a row, plus extending our championship lead. I am proud of each member of the team for their efforts, plus the R1 and the Bridgestone tyres worked amazingly, so we are already looking forward to Suzuka.”

Belgian outfit BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team finished second with YART recovering to third ahead of Yoshimura SERT Motul and Kawasaki Webike Trickstar. ERC Endurance took sixth as British EWC rookies John McPhee and Charlie Nesbitt helped Tati Team AVA6 Racing place seventh.

Champion-MRP-Tecmas won the Dunlop-equipped Superstock category on its return to competition in eighth overall followed by Team Bolliger Switzerland. Team 18 Pompiers Igol CMS Motostore edged National Motos Honda FMA to second in Superstock after a close battle between title-winning outfits.

Hannes Soomer, who was partnered at Champion-MRP-Tecmas by Jan Bühn and Leandro Mercado, said: “When ‘Tati’ (Leandro) crashed in qualifying I think everyone in the box was a bit scared. He’s a critical part of our team, he’s been fast all week and luckily he was fine more or less. He fought through the pain during the race and did a really good job like all the team. The race was a bit less dramatic for us, we made a really clean race with clean pitstops, clean riding from all the riders. We can be happy.”

Team Super Moto Racing made it back-to-back Production category wins followed home by ARTEC #199 and pole-sitting squad Green Team 42 Lycée Sainte Claire. Following his victory alongside team-mates Bastien Mejane and Firmin Prodhomme, Cyril Leroux said: “We cannot expect to be on the top step as well here because all the team discovered the track. It was not the perfect qualification on Friday but we did a good race and pushed really hard to be in the first place. We’re really happy.”

2025 FIM EWC 8 Hours of Spa Motos Results

2025 FIM Endurance World Championship Points

FIM Endurance World Cup Points

2024 FIM Endurance World Championship Calendar