Thirty-four years after his first laps on the track, Werner Daemen has claimed the Endurance World Championship title. The Belgian, now 55, runs BMW’s factory team in the EWC and celebrated the title in September after the 24 Hours of Le Castellet, the season finale.
Speaking to Speedweek, the team manager looks back on the long road to success and pulls no punches in describing the team that got him there.
The feeling after Le Mans
The championship had not got off to the best start. At the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the BMW ridden by Markus Reiterberger, Michael Van der Mark and Steven Odendaal finished only seventh, yet it was there that Daemen began to believe. "When we finished only seventh at Le Mans this year, I still thought for the first time that we could win the world title," he recalls. "I said then: if we win at Spa, the title is ours. We got both: the win at Spa and the world title at the 24 Hours of Le Castellet."
According to Daemen, the difference was made over the winter. "Last winter, both BMW and our team took a real step forward. And we had three top riders". The German manufacturer, he adds, gave the team complete freedom: "BMW let us have a free hand. Of course, the pressure did not let up."
A career built like a castle
It all began in 1992, almost as a bit of fun. "For the first five years, it was just a hobby. I raced anything and everything, including hill climbs," he recalls. In 1999, he and his wife Wendy welcomed the first of their four children. The secret, he explains, was patience: "I built my racing career like a castle. First, I gained experience, which you have to earn and cannot buy. Then you need money. At the start, I would race an entire world championship weekend on just one set of tyres."
As a rider, Daemen competed in the Supersport World Championship, where in 2000 he even found himself battling world champion Jörg Teuchert, before spending a few seasons in the IDM. In 2009, at the Salzburgring, he secured the first international victory for the then-new BMW S 1000 RR. His relationship with the Bavarian manufacturer in Endurance racing began in 2019 and continues to this day. "You need the equipment, the best people you can find wherever they are, and the best manufacturer. Putting together the best package also takes time and money. Compared with SERT and YART, as a 'newcomer' you first have to prove what you’re worth."
The flip side in the German Superbike championship
While triumph came in the EWC, the domestic championship season was less successful. In the 2026 Euro Moto Superbike championship, which will revert to the name IDM next year, Daemen’s team—featuring Reiterberger, Hannes Soomer, Jan Mohr and Milan Merckelbagh—played a supporting role in the title race, having won it nine times in the past. It is a shortfall the team will try to make up in 2027, with the Endurance crown now safely on display.
-> Follow us on Instagram too: @Corsedimoto
