24h Motos – H+5: It’s already over for Marc VDS KM99 and Randy de Puniet

After six hours of racing, the 2026 24 Hours of Le Mans motorcycle race has already experienced its first major turning point with the retirement of the Yamaha #99, which suffered a fire caused by engine failure. The Belgian machine of the Marc VDS KM99 team, fielding Florian Marino, Alessandro Delbianco, and the former rider of MotoGP Randy de Puniet suffered a failure in the second piston which forced him to withdraw from the 24 Hours of Le Mans motorcycle race, even though they had high hopes for great results.

Earlier, the YART Yamaha #1 had regained the lead and extended its advantage to over 30 seconds at the top of the standings. The BMW #37 remains its main rival and continues to string together long stints, having completed 37 laps in its last pit stop. Behind the top two, the Honda #5 overtook the SERT Suzuki #12, which suffered electronic problems during Greg Black's stint. The BMW #76 completes the leading group.

The race was also marked by several crashes, notably for the #45 Metiss, the #18 Yamaha, and the #56 Kawasaki in Superstock, but no other retirements at this stage. Meanwhile, the #1 Honda of Team Dafy-Kaedar-Rac 41 is dominating the Superstock category, while also featuring in the overall top 10.

As night approaches, traffic management and cooler conditions are expected to continue to impact the rest of the race. In three hours, the first points will be awarded to the top 10 provisional leaders. The leader at the 8-hour mark will receive 10 points, the runner-up 9, and so on down to 10th place, which receives one point.

24 Hours of Le Mans Motorcycle Race 2026
The standings after five hours of racing: