24 Hours of Le Mans Motorcycles – Q1: Yamaha closely followed by BMW for provisional pole position at Le Mans

This Saturday afternoon, the 60 machines entered in the 49th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans motorcycle race kicked off the proceedings during Q1. Endurance For motorcycles, qualifying is divided into four 20-minute sessions, where the riders of each team are grouped according to the color of their armband (Blue, Yellow, Red, and Green). Pole position is determined by the average of the two best times of the riders on each motorcycle.

More than just a starting hierarchy, during the qualifying session, the five fastest teams score points: 5 for pole position, then 4, 3, 2 and 1 point up to fifth place.

Thus, under the Bugatti circuit sun and in ideal conditions, the combined performances of Marvin Fritz and Karel Hanika (1:34.677), both dominant in their respective groups (blue and yellow), allowed Yart-Yamaha to secure provisional pole position for the 2026 24 Hours of Le Mans motorcycle race. The Czech rider got the proceedings off to a perfect start during the blue riders' session. Already a pole sitter in 2025, he set the fastest time on the grid, one-tenth of a second ahead of the #37 BMW.

A few minutes later, during the session for the yellow team drivers, his teammate Marvin Fritz confirmed the strong performance of the #1 car. Without beating his lap record set last year (1:34.489), the German driver clocked a lap of 1:34.778, relegating Étienne Masson (Suzuki #12) to more than seven-tenths of a second behind. The YART car thus secured provisional pole position.

The front row is currently completed by two BMWs: the factory car bearing the number 37 (1:34.709), and the surprising number 76 of the Ube Racing team (1:35.356). While the latter can hardly expect to secure pole position after Q2, only 32 thousandths of a second separate the top two, so the battle remains wide open.

The Suzuki of Sert, the 2024 champion, is only provisionally 4th with an average lap time of 1:35.440, which puts it far behind its closest rival. The Yamaha #99 of Randy de Puniet and his teammates is currently 5th in the standings established this Friday.

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24 Hours of Le Mans Motorcycle Race 2026 

The Formula EWC rankings for Q1:

1. Yamaha n°1 (Yart-Yamaha): 1:34.677
2. BMW n°37 (BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team): 1:34.709
3. BMW n°76 (Ube Racing Team): 1:35.356
4. Suzuki n°12 (SERT Motul): 1:35.440
5. Yamaha #99 (KM99): 1:35.617