Le Mans. The 2025 season opener of the FIM Endurance World Championship (FIM EWC) will go down as one of the most dramatic 24-hour races in history. From start to finish, persistent rain during the 24 Hours of Le Mans (FRA) created extremely treacherous conditions. In this eventful endurance marathon, the BMW teams demonstrated the potential of the BMW M 1000 RR. The BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team (#37), who was among the top favourites crossed the line in fourth place after 24 turbulent hours.

After dry weather up until Friday, rain began right on schedule on race day Saturday. The track became extremely slippery, resulting in numerous crashes throughout the field. The BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team with factory riders Sylvain Guintoli (FRA), Markus Reiterberger (GER), Steven Odendaal (GER), and reserve rider Hannes Soomer (EST) was not spared. The #37 BMW M 1000 RR led the field with a solid advantage during the chaotic early stages but over the following hours, the team – like nearly all others – suffered crashes and had to take a lengthy repair break. Nevertheless, Guintoli, Reiterberger, and Odendaal fought their way back, keeping their podium hopes alive.

Congratulations to our fellow BMW team ERC Endurance #6 who placed third in the very chaotic race.

The second race of the 2025 FIM Endurance World Championship, the 8 Hours of Spa Motos at Spa-Francorchamps (BEL), will take place on June 7. We’re always excited for Spa-Francorchamps, as it’s the home race of the BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team, managed by Werner Daemen (BE).

Reactions after the 24h Le Mans:

Sven Blusch, Head of BMW Motorrad Motorsport:
“This 24-hour race is one we’ll all remember for a long time. The challenge of riding a race like Le Mans under such conditions was immense for everyone involved. That makes the strong performance of the BMW teams and riders all the more impressive. Congratulations to the entire ERC Endurance #6 team who managed to reach the podium in their first race in this lineup. Our factory team also proved its podium potential right to the very end. Many thanks to the team and the riders for their hard work and strong performance. What we saw at Le Mans gives us a lot of confidence for the rest of the FIM EWC season.”

 

Christian Gonschor, Technical Director BMW Motorrad Motorsport: “It was an absolutely emotional experience all around. Le Mans is always impressive, and endurance racing is full of passion. I think that passion was evident from the first to the last lap. The riders had to take big risks in extremely difficult conditions. By hour 22, there had already been more than 145 crashes – surely a record, but a sad one. Teams put in so much work and heart, and only a few got the reward. It was a real sporting challenge, and we’re very happy to have a BMW M 1000 RR on the podium. Congratulations to Uwe Reinhardt and the ERC crew. Our Werner Daemen-led factory team fought right to the last minute. We had crashes with all three riders; it was just that tough out there. Plus, we had a follow-up repair that cost us about 15 minutes, which was likely the small margin that kept us from the podium. We were a bit unlucky, but we’re happy with the many points we’re taking home. It’s a solid foundation for the rest of the season, and we’re looking forward to Spa, Werner Daemen’s home race. I think that track suits our BMW M 1000 RR well. You could already see its potential here.”

 

Markus Reiterberger, BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team: “I’ve done a lot of 24-hour races, but I’ve never experienced one as chaotic and slippery as today. There were so many crashes, and unfortunately, we went down three times as well. My teammates did a fantastic job. They were both really fast at the beginning but each had a crash. I then tried to bring it home but also slipped once. We were definitely in the fight, but it just wasn’t meant to be. Finishing fourth is a bit frustrating because we really wanted and deserved that podium. But it’s clear we have the potential and we can fight for wins. Big thanks to my teammates and the entire team. It was an amazing week!”

 

Sylvain Guintoli, BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team: “It was mad. It was really frantic from the very start because the track was very, very slippery. The 24 hours started really well. In the first one and a half hours, I felt really good and was leading. Then I got caught up with a backmarker and unfortunately crashed. The team did a fantastic job to repair the bike – and then again after Steven’s crash. They were really, really on point. Unfortunately we lost a bit too much time with the damage on the bike but I think everybody can be really proud of what we did today. It just wasn’t to be but we had speed, we were leading for quite a while and we were strong. There are still a lot of positives to take from this weekend and I think we are all very much looking forward to the next rounds.”

 

Steven Odendaal, BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team: “To be honest, it has definitely been the most difficult race of my life. I’ve never had to experience such terrible conditions during the night and during the day. A wet track drying and a dry track getting wet again, but I think the team did really well. We had some really big crashes and the team prepared the bike phenomenally well to get it back to working order. I am really happy, it was just unfortunate. It would have been nice to end up on the podium after all the troubles we had.”

Gallery

Check out all the photos from 2025 Le Mans on our photos page.