Yoshimura SERT Motul collected maximum points at the final round of the 2025 Endurance World Championship and bagged a hat trick of wins at the famous Bol d’Or. Despite a flawless performance, the Franco-Japanese narrowly missed retaining its EWC title by just one point.
To defend its chances of winning another world title, Yoshimura SERT Motul had to deliver a perfect performance at the Paul Ricard circuit in the south of France. Its intent was evident from the get-go when Gregg Black set a new Bol d’Or qualifying lap record in Q1, which was then bettered by team-mate Etienne Masson in Q2 who broke into a sub 1:51s lap time, the absolute fastest time of the weekend.
The Suzuki team carried that strong performance through to the start of the race with Black getting ahead of the pack and completing the first lap in the lead. During the early hours of the race, Black, Masson and Dan Linfoot fought an intense battle against their main rivals in the championship.
Despite a stop/go penalty imposed for work carried out on the bike after refuelling, Yoshimura SERT Motul led the standings at the 8-hour mark and pocketed the maximum bonus of 10 points.
Throughout the night, the Suzuki team rider’s stints flowed one after another without a single mistake, both on the track and during refuelling. At the 16-hour mark, the team was still leading the race, one lap ahead of its closest rival. In terms of points, Yoshimura SERT Motul’s lead increased by a further 10 bonus points.
Solid and fast throughout the demanding race, which saw 20 of the 53 entered teams drop out, Yoshimura SERT Motul maintained a single-minded focus to secure its third successive Bol d’Or win. The team delivered a perfect performance to claim an undisputed victory and accumulate 65 points, the maximum possible in this event. Despite this outstanding accomplishment, the Franco-Japanese team missed out on the world title by just one point in the final standings.
Yohei KATO – team director
“I’m finding it a little difficult to express how I feel. Of course, there’s the frustration of coming so close to the title, but I’m also very happy with the team’s performance and the work done by my riders. We’ve been very strong since the start of the week. In the first qualifying session, Gregg broke the track record and the next day, Etienne improved on it! Then our perfect race demonstrated all the qualities of this “old generation” Suzuki. We’ll be back next year with a brand-new and very promising version.”
Damien SAULNIER – team manager
“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, which had a great season. We all obviously deserved this title.”
Gregg BLACK – rider
“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 with the Mistral straight, which is so demanding on the bike. Our victory once again demonstrates the reliability of the Suzuki. Now, losing the championship by a single point is tough, but we gave it our all. We will come back in 2026 even stronger and make fewer mistakes at the start of the season.”
Etienne MASSON – rider
“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. See you next year.”
Dan LINFOOT – rider
“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; it was in the hands of our opponents. I would like to congratulate YART on winning the world championship title. We gave it our all and we can be proud of that. It allowed us to put all the odds in our favour and keep our hopes alive for as long as possible.”
Yoshimura SERT Motul is now focusing on preparing for the 2026 season, which will kick off at Le Mans for the 24 Heures Motos, scheduled for the 16th to the 19th of April. The team, managed by Yohei Katoh and Damien Saulnier, will be competing with the latest evolution of the GSX-R1000R.
Posted on September 21, 2025 by Michael Le Pard
