SERT take valuable points from rain soaked Spa

Yoshimura SERT Motul finished the 8 Hours of Spa 2025, the second round of the FIM EWC World Championship, in fourth place. The 8 Hours of Spa was marked by unstable weather and tricky track conditions throughout. Gregg Black got off to an excellent start and took the holeshot from pole position. He was overtaken at Les Combes but opted for a measured approach and completed a cautious first stint in fourth position. Etienne Masson then joined the race and proved to be consistent in dry conditions, enabling SERT to move back into the top three.

Dan Linfoot took over the reins with the Suzuki GSX-R1000R in second position. He set a steady pace that allowed the Suzuki #1 to maintain a solid position in the leading pack. However, the weather changed all that with the arrival of heavy rain, first in localised areas and then across the whole track. Back on track, Black, following his team’s strategy, opted not to take any risks given the precarious grip of the track. Despite setting a good pace, the team dropped to fourth place.

Over the next few hours, the weather switched between sudden showers and calm conditions. The three riders performed cautious but effective stints, enabling the Suzuki #1 to maintain fourth position despite the very demanding conditions for both riders and machines.

Thanks to strong race management, the team dealt with the challenges of the day and put in an error-free performance. The result allowed the team to collect a further 19 points and consolidate its sixth place in the provisional championship standings.

Black said, "Naturally, we are a little disappointed with the result because, clearly, our ambition was to aim for the podium, not fourth place. In the dry, we showed that we were competitive, but the race was much wetter than expected and that complicated things. Our technical choices favoured optimum performance in the dry, but in the rain, it was difficult to exploit our true potential."

Brit Dan Linfoot said, "It was a tough race. Naturally, we are not entirely satisfied with finishing fourth as our aim was to fight at least for the podium. On a personal note, I am quite pleased with my first race back after my shoulder injury because the pain is now behind me. So now, I am looking forward to heading to Suzuka where I can give 100% in both testing and the race."

Masson added, "We really gave everything we had to push hard for the win, but it was all in vain and that is obviously quite frustrating. We had opted for a fairly radical set-up in dry conditions, without anticipating as much rain in the afternoon, so our strategy simply didn’t work given the conditions we encountered throughout the race. The bike was not set up to perform well on such a wet track, but that is what endurance racing is all about. We fully accept this choice, and we will now focus on the rest of the championship."