Aprilia shines in Endurance too: here’s how the 8 Hours of Spa went

Not only MotoGP: Aprilia is now starting to rack up results in Endurance as well. The Revo M2 team, with the magnificent Kevin Calia, Simone Saltarelli, and Flavio Ferroni, dominated the Superstock category at the Spa 8 Hours, the second round of the Endurance World Championship.

BMW, on the other hand, clinched the event win, keeping Yamaha YART and Kawasaki Trickstar in check, with our Christian Gamarino stepping onto the podium to crown a great day for Italian colors in the Endurance series.

Spa-Francorchamps, a blisteringly fast “old-school” circuit, thrilled fans of this championship by serving up six different manufacturers in the top six positions at the finish: BMW, Yamaha, and Kawasaki on the podium, with Suzuki and Honda just behind, ahead of Aprilia—which, as noted, made a big statement in the class reserved for near-stock bikes. It’s a strong sign of technical vitality for a championship that unfortunately continues to fly under the radar: only four rounds, three in the Francophone part of Europe and just one truly global round, the famed Suzuka 8 Hours.

BMW Motorrad celebrated this prestigious victory with Markus Reiterberger, Michael van der Mark, and Steven Odendaal, capitalizing on pole and managing to perfection the phases of a race shaped by capricious weather and a heavy mid-distance thunderstorm. The rain dashed Yamaha YART’s hopes; they had based their strategy on the lower fuel consumption of the YZF-R1 by extending stints. However, two extra stops for tire changes scuppered the plans of the Iwata marque, which nonetheless remains atop the World Championship standings. A trouble-free race for Kawasaki Trickstar, with Christian Gamarino now a splendid standard-bearer. A high-profile retirement instead for Honda FCC, betrayed by a technical problem. The same bad luck struck Yamaha Marc VDS, racing at home and aiming to spring a surprise on the endurance powerhouses. A crash by Bo Bendsneyder doused their fire, with an extra sting in the tail: the Dutchman was replacing Alex Delbianco, who at the last moment opted to defend Yamaha’s lead in the CIV Superbike at Imola.

Over the 8-hour race, the Aprilia RSV4 1100 fielded by the Revo M2 team completed 186 laps, just six fewer than the BMW benchmark in the top category (EWC), which allows greater scope for development. Outstanding work by the Noale racing department and by the team, which has now become Aprilia’s reference outfit in production-derived racing. A flawless performance as well from the all-Italian trio: Calia, Saltarelli, and Ferroni are now fully among the top interpreters of world Endurance.

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