24 Hours of Spa (motorcycle race)

The 24 Heures de Spa-Francorchamps Motos (previously called 24 Heures de Liège moto) is a motorcycle endurance race held annually since 1971 on the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Francorchamps, Stavelot, Wallonia, Belgium and is part of the Endurance FIM World Championship. In 2024 the race will be run in 8 hours format.[1]

FIM Endurance World Championship
VenueCircuit de Spa-Francorchamps
Location50°26′14″N 5°58′17″E
First race1971
Duration24 hours
Previous names24 Heures de Liège, 8 Heures de Spa (2024)
Most wins (driver) Christian Lavieille (4)
Jacques Luc (4)
Most wins (manufacturer) Honda (12)

History

The inaugural event took place on August 28 and 29, 1971 on the Zolder circuit. The competition took place on two different circuits:

When the Bol d'Or moved from Bugatti Circuit to Circuit Paul Ricard at the end of 1977, the ACO created the 24 Heures Moto. The race became one of "the classics" of endurance racing along with the 24 Hours of Liège, the 8 Hours Of Suzuka, and the Bol d'Or.

At the end of 2001, the three 24 Hour classic races (Le Mans, Liège and the Bol d'Or) withdrew from the Endurance World Championship to create the Master of Endurance (an Endurance competition consisting on the 3 races that was held between 2002 and 2005). Le Mans and Bol d'Or returned to the Endurance FIM World Championship in 2006, but 24 Hours of Liége didn't while the track had lost FIM homolgation.

After twenty years of interruption, the race returned renamed as 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps and as part of the FIM Endurance World Championship calendar with a ten-year contract.[2]

Winners

24 Hours of Spa winners[3]
Year Riders Bike
Rider 1 Rider 2 Rider 3
1971 Clive Brown Nigel RollasonBSA
1972 Georges Godier Alain GenoudHonda
1973 John Williams Charlie WilliamsHonda
1974 Jean-Claude Chemarin Gérard DebrockHonda
1975 Roger Ruiz Christian HuguetJapauto
1976 Jean-Claude Chemarin Christian LéonHonda
1977 Jacques Luc Pierre SoulasHonda
1978 Jacques Luc Jack BuytaertHonda
1979 Jacques Luc Jack BuytaertHonda
1980 Marc Fontan Hervé MoineauHonda
1981 Jacques Luc Pierre-Étienne SaminSuzuki
1982 Jean-Claude Chemarin Jacques Cornu Sergio PelandiniKawasaki
1983 Jacques Cornu Thierry Espié Didier de RadiguèsKawasaki
1984 Gérard Coudray Patrick Igoa Alex VieiraHonda
1985 Hervé Moineau Richard Hubin Jean-Pierre OudinSuzuki
1986 Gérard Coudray Patrick Igoa Alex VieiraHonda
1987 Richard Hubin Michel Siméon Michel SimulSuzuki
1988 Hervé Moineau Bruno Le Bihan Thierry CrineSuzuki
1989 Alex Vieira Stéphane Mertens Roger BurnettSuzuki
1990 Race cancelled
1991 Stéphane Mertens Dominique Sarron Christian LavieilleSuzuki
1992 Terry Rymer Carl Fogarty Jehan d'OrgeixKawasaki
1993 Steve Manley Simon Buckmaster Doug TolandKawasaki
1994 Adrien Morillas Jean-Louis Battistini Denis BonorisKawasaki
1995 Jean-Michel Mattioli Stéphane Mertens Michel SiméonHonda
1996 Piergiorgio Bontempi Stéphane Coutelle Brian MorrisonKawasaki
1997 Juan-Eric Gomez Doug Polen Peter GoddardSuzuki
1998 Christian Lavieille Doug Polen William CostesHonda
1999 Telmo Pereira Michel Graziano Bruno BonhuilSuzuki
2000 Jean-Marc Delétang Fabien Foret Mark WillisYamaha
2001 Christian Lavieille Brian Morrison Laurent BrianSuzuki
2002 Christian Lavieille Brian Morrison Laurent BrianSuzuki
2003 Olivier Four Sébastien Gimbert Nicolas DussaugeSuzuki
race not held
2022[4][5] Markus Reiterberger Illia Mykhalchyk Jeremy GuarnoniBMW
2023[6] Niccolò Canepa Marvin Fritz Karel HanikaYamaha
2024[7] Niccolò Canepa Marvin Fritz Karel HanikaYamaha

By manufacturer

Wins Manufacturer
12 Honda
11 Suzuki
6 Kawasaki
3 Yamaha
1 BMW
Japauto[8]
BSA

See also

References

  1. "Spa's EWC eight will be great". fimewc.com. Retrieved 2023-10-27.
  2. Delisse, Alexis (14 May 2018). "Endurance : les 24 Heures de Spa de retour en 2022". moto-station.com..
  3. Glon, Vincent. "Les Courses d'endurance en Belgique - Les 24 Heures de Liège". racingmemo.free.fr..
  4. Gauthier, Stéphane (6 June 2022). "EWC 2022 : 24 heures de Spa Motos". racingforever.com..
  5. "RACE REPORT: JAPANESE JOY MADE IN FRANCE AS YOSHIMURA SERT MOTUL WINS EWC 24 HEURES MOTOS". fimewc.com. 15 April 2022. Retrieved 17 October 2022..
  6. Pascual, Nicolas (18 June 2023). "EWC 24H Spa-Francorchamps : le YART-Yamaha triomphe en Belgique !". paddock-gp.com..
  7. "Spa EWC glory for YART and Aviobike". fim-moto.com. 8 June 2024. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
  8. "The history of Japauto". Retrieved 2024-04-22.
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