Yoshimura SERT wins Bol d'Or

The Yoshimura Suzuki Endurance Racing Team has won the Bol d'Or 24-hour race for the third consecutive year, its fourth win from the last five years.

With the result the team missed out on the 2025 Endurance World Championship title by just one point, highlighting the remarkable comeback the team made this year after a tricky start to the season back at Le Mans in April.

To give themselves the best shot possible at retaining their crown, the team and riders needed a perfect weekend. In the first qualifying session Gregg Black set a new all-time lap record, only for his teammate, Etienne Masson to go even faster in Q2, making him the only rider to lap the famous Paul Ricard circuit in under one minute and 51 seconds. 

Starting from pole position, the team battled for the race lead early on, eventually pulling clear of their chasing rivals. Well-timed pit-stops ensured they were leading the race at the crucial eight and 16 hour marks, taking maximum points from the weekend, before Dan Linfoot took the chequered flag first after 24 hours of racing.

Unfortunately, despite the valiant effort, the team missed out on retaining its world title by a single point.

Team manager, Damien Saulnier, said afterwards, "We've won the Bol d'Or for the third consecutive time, so we'll be able to keep the trophy at home. Our team has won here five times in six years, so I think we can only be delighted. Still, there is a slight tinge of bitterness about the single point that separates us from the title. But that's racing. I have a lot of respect and admiration for the Yamaha team, and my thoughts also go out to the BMW team."

Gregg Black said, "The team made technical improvements to the bike that allowed us to set a faster pace than last year, when we won. So we only had one thing to do in the race: stay in front until the finish line to score 65 points. We knew what we had to do. Then we had to make it happen. So we are very pleased to have won this very difficult race. Our victory once again demonstrates the reliability of the Suzuki. Losing the championship by a single point is tough, but we gave it our all. We will come back in 2026 even stronger."

Etienne Masson added, "After qualifying, we were feeling pretty confident about the race. We started off at the pace we had planned. We fought all night to try to keep up that pace and maintain the pressure on our rivals. And that's exactly what we managed to do. The team once again did an incredible job during the pit stops. They were exemplary. Everyone stuck to the plan. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to win the title, but I think we can be proud."

Dan Linfoot commented, "Of course, this victory is very good for the whole team. We all feel satisfied with a job well done, but there is also the frustration of the world championship. That's the feeling I have tonight. We did everything we needed to do and we scored the maximum number of points. After that, it was out of our hands. I would like to congratulate YART on winning the world championship title. We gave it our all and we can be proud of that."