YART Yamaha Qualify in Second for the 8 Hours of Spa Motos
The Yamalube YART Yamaha EWC Official Team of Marvin Fritz, Karel Hanika, and Jason O’Halloran just missed out on their fourth consecutive pole position at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps by 0.011s after battling through rain showers and multiple red flags to qualify in second for the 8 Hours of Spa Motos, Round 2 of the 2025 FIM Endurance World Championship (EWC).
The Austrian-based squad arrived in Belgium leading the championship by ten points and aiming to complete a hat-trick of wins, having taken victory in Spa in 2023 and 2024. With another five points up for grabs in Friday’s qualifying, their eyes were firmly on maintaining their 100% pole record at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps since it returned to the EWC calendar in 2022.
After rain heavily affected Thursday’s Private Practice, which meant the team, especially O’Halloran, racing at the legendarily challenging 6.985km circuit for the first time, did not have the ideal preparation for the race weekend. The weather forecast for Friday was mixed, and Free Practice started on a wet but drying track; however, scattered rain showers continued throughout the day.
The YART team used the two-hour session in the morning to fine-tune their setup for Saturday’s race. They showed superb pace in the wet conditions and eventually finished fourth with a 2:21.117 before switching their sights on qualifying in the afternoon.
First out was Hanika in the Blue riders group, but just as the Czech rider fitted a new Bridgestone qualifying tyre to the YART R1, the rain returned, ruining his chance of setting a hot lap. Despite this, he still managed a 2:20.025 on a race tyre before the rain came to end the session in fourth.
Fritz was up next in the Yellow group. With the track now dry again, even a red flag during his session could not stop the German rider from setting a 2:18.273 to smash his own qualifying lap record at the Belgian circuit, a 2:18.551 from 2024, although a rival team would break it in the second qualifying session.
O’Halloran then took to the track for the first time in fully dry conditions, with the “O Show” impressing to finish the Red session in third after setting a 2:19.743, meaning YART were in a provisional third place.
With the forecast mixed, most teams, including YART, had gambled on using the majority of their seven qualifying tyres during the first sessions, but they saved one rear for Hanika to go out in the second Blue session. As the sun appeared at Spa, he improved his time to set a 2:18.631 to finish the session in third.
With no more qualifying tyres in their allocation, Fritz and O’Halloran switched to focusing on finalising the setup with the race bike. However, they still set 2:19.667 and 2:20.686, respectively, showcasing the impressive pace of the team on race rubber.
In the EWC, the best laps of the two fastest riders are combined to give the final time, and this meant that, taking Fritz and Hanika’s times, YART had just missed out on pole by the slenderest of margins. Despite this, they secured four vital championship points and extended their lead at the top of the EWC standings to 14.
It was another good performance from the Belgian-based Elf Marc VDS Racing Team/KM99 squad, with Florian Marino, Randy de Puniet, and Jérémy Guarnoni qualifying in eighth place in front of their home fans with a combined time of 2:20.700.
The 8 Hours of Spa Motos kicks off at 12:30 p.m. local time (CEST) on Saturday with the traditional “Le Mans” running start. The chequered flag will be waved at 8:30 p.m., but as usual at Spa, with a mixed forecast, the weather could still play a huge part in deciding the race’s outcome.
8 Hours of Spa Motos Qualifying Results
Marvin Fritz – P2 – 2:18.452
Yamalube YART Yamaha EWC Official Team
“Qualifying was good today. I was a bit unlucky with the red flag during my first session, but then I managed a good lap. I made a little mistake in the super-fast left towards the end of the lap, and I shifted back one gear too many, so I lost two or three tenths maybe, but overall I am happy with my lap. My teammates did a great job. Karel was fast and consistent, and Jason did an amazing job considering it is his first time racing here. It must have been very difficult for him, as today he only had about 10-15 laps to get up to speed on a fully dry track after the rain during Private Practice on Thursday. Overall, we are super happy. We are pretty fast in all conditions, especially in the wet, so if it rains during the race, we are confident we can be super strong. We are going for the win!”
Karel Hanika – P2 – 2:18.452
Yamalube YART Yamaha EWC Official Team
“Qualifying was quite tricky for me, as during my first session, just when I put the Q tyre in, it started to rain, so I could not set a fast time. Therefore, I had to focus on the second qualifying session and made a solid lap, although I felt I could have gone three to four tenths quicker. It was the maximum that we could achieve today. We missed out on pole by such a small amount, which is a shame, but overall, it was a good day, and we showed great pace in all conditions, especially in the wet, so we are confident that whatever the weather tomorrow, we can fight for the win.”
Jason O’Halloran – P2 – 2:18.452
Yamalube YART Yamaha EWC Official Team
“Honestly, it was a really good and beneficial day for me, after I did not get as much track time as I would have liked in Private Practice on Thursday because of the rain. Therefore, qualifying today was the first time I got to ride the track in fully dry conditions, and I am delighted to have got into the 2:19s. I was even happier with the second qualifying session, as I headed out on the race bike with used tyres, and showed some good pace. I feel like I am improving every lap, and we will go and study the data tonight to see where we can improve even more for tomorrow. My teammates were awesomely fast, and we are confident in all conditions, so I am looking forward to the race!”
Mandy Kainz
Yamalube YART Yamaha EWC Official Team – Team Manager
“Today was a good day for us as a team. It was not easy with the weather conditions constantly changing and the red flags, but the whole team stayed focused and did a great job. While we just missed out on pole, we still managed to extend our lead in the championship standings. Marvin set a superb time, and Karel showed his pace too. Plus, I am very happy with Jason, as today was his first time riding here in the dry, so to set a 2:19 is impressive. The team did a great job, and we are in a great position for the race. We will focus on ourselves, push to the maximum, and see how things unfold, but of course, we would love to win again here and make it three in a row.”
