Summary
BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team won the 2026 FIM Endurance World Championship after taking the Bol d’Or at Le Castellet with its M 1000 RR. The team finished four points ahead of YART Yamaha in the final standings.
BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team has won the 2026 FIM Endurance World Championship after taking a decisive victory in the season-ending Bol d’Or at Le Castellet, France. Michael van der Mark, Markus Reiterberger and Steven Odendaal completed 24 trouble-free hours on the #37 BMW M 1000 RR to secure the race win and the championship.
BMW describes the result as the first FIM EWC world championship title for a European manufacturer. It is also the first endurance-racing world title for the team, Team Manager Werner Daemen and the three riders.
A four-point championship finish
The BMW team entered the final round as the championship challenger, 19 points behind YART Yamaha. It maximised the available scoring opportunities at Le Castellet: van der Mark was the fastest rider in qualifying, and the combined best lap times of van der Mark and Reiterberger gave BMW pole position and five points.
The team also led the race after eight and 16 hours, earning another 10 points, before winning the 24-hour contest for 40 more. Reiterberger crossed the finish line first on the BMW. Yoshimura SERT Motul finished second, while YART came third, two laps behind the winner.
The final championship table put BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team on 158 points, ahead of YART Yamaha on 154. Yoshimura SERT Motul finished third with 137 points, followed by Kawasaki Webike Trickstar on 105.
The Bol d’Or result reversed the disappointment of the previous season. BMW says the team lost the chance to win at the same circuit in 2025 after a technical failure less than half an hour before the finish.
How BMW built the title campaign
The championship was decided across four races. BMW led the 24 Heures Motos at Le Mans during the early part of the race but fell back after problems. It then won the eight-hour race at Spa-Francorchamps. At the Suzuka 8 Hours, van der Mark, Reiterberger and Odendaal finished third; BMW identifies that result as the first podium at Suzuka for a European manufacturer.
Those results reduced the gap to YART before the finale. At Le Castellet, BMW says the winning combination was rider speed, pit-lane execution, motorcycle reliability and fuel efficiency. The manufacturer reported that the M 1000 RR used less fuel than its rivals, allowing the team to make fewer pit stops over the race distance and save time.
Endurance racing places a motorcycle and its team under sustained mechanical and operational demands rather than testing speed over a short race alone. Teams must manage rider changes, refuelling, pit work and reliability across eight- or 24-hour events. The BMW announcement presents the Bol d’Or result as the outcome of that overall package: a fast qualifying performance, consistent race leadership and a trouble-free run to the finish.
Van der Mark joined the team as a full-time rider for the 2026 season and had not previously raced at the French circuit. Alongside Reiterberger and Odendaal, he formed the rider line-up that converted BMW’s final-round points opportunity into the manufacturer’s first FIM EWC championship win.