24 Hours of Le Mans – H+18: The night proved costly for BMW

The night of the 2026 24 Hours of Le Mans motorcycle race, on the Bugatti circuit, proved an intense challenge for the teams competing in the 49th edition of the event. At daybreak, after 18 hours of racing, the riders faced the cool night conditions, with temperatures dropping to 4°C, high humidity making the asphalt slippery, and reduced visibility under the motorcycles' headlights. Only about forty machines remained in the race at dawn.

Leading the pack is the BMW Motorrad World team Endurance Team, with its #37 BMW driven by Steven Odendaal and Michael van der Mark, among others, reigned supreme overnight. They racked up over 500 laps thanks to careful stint management, setting a controlled pace despite the gentler lean angles dictated by the precarious grip. However, this dominance collapsed at daybreak with a series of tragic incidents.

Three unscheduled pit stops in thirty minutes cost them the lead. First, a small amount of smoke detected on the left side of the bike forced them to retire, before a crash by Michael van der Mark at 08:07 a.m. while overtaking a backmarker caused them to lose even more time. These incidents, coupled with an additional four minutes in the pits at 08:30 a.m., relegated the BMW – which had been a lap ahead of its pursuers – far behind its rivals.

Yamaha takes control at the 24 Hours of Le Mans motorcycle race

Meanwhile, the YART Yamaha Official EWC Team, on the number 1 Yamaha with Karel Hanika, Marvin Fritz, and Leandro Mercado, despite being a lap down and making more frequent pit stops due to higher fuel consumption, maintained the pressure by increasing their pace. This tenacity paid off at sunrise, allowing Marvin Fritz to regain the lead at 8:28 AM as the undisputed leader with a four-lap advantage.

The Yoshimura SERT Motul Suzuki #12, ridden by Étienne Masson and Dan Linfoot among others, experienced a night of resurgence after electronic issues were resolved during the evening. It fiercely contested third place with the Kawasaki #11, with Étienne Masson regaining the lead over Roman Ramos Alvaro and Christian Gamarino during a pit stop around 4:00 AM. Gregg Black then took over from Dan Linfoot, who had a 35-second advantage over Michael van der Mark. At 8:31 AM, the Suzuki capitalized on the chaos at BMW to seize second place overall.

The Kawasaki Webike Trickstar team, on the #11 bike with Roman Ramos Alvaro, Christian Gamarino, and Greg Leblanc, enlivened the battle for the podium, moving into third place shortly before 4:00 AM, but then lost ground to the Suzuki. The setback culminated at 8:29 AM when Greg Leblanc had to dismount from his bike in fourth position and push it back to the pits.

The #5 Honda of FCC TSR Honda France, driven by Alan Techer, Corentin Perolari, and John McPhee, suffered another major mechanical issue. A repair at 3:24 AM dropped them to 24th overall, but they still have a chance of scoring points.

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24 Hours of Le Mans Motorcycle Race 2026
The ranking after 18 hours of racing: