Participants of the 24H SPA EWC Motos had been fearing the arrival of thunderstorms throughout the early morning, and when they arrived at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit shortly before 8am, they made their impact felt immediately. Track conditions began to worsen as the riders were about to complete their nineteenth hour of racing, resulting in a number of crashes, including several favourites.
Third in the overall standings after a long run, the Suzuki No. 1 (Yoshimura SERT Motul) riden by Gregg Black went down and was partially destroyed. The French rider was able to get back on track and return to the pits, where the mechanics have been working ever since. Mike di Meglio also crashed out on the Honda No. 5 (F.C.C. TSR Honda France), which was working its way into the top-5.
In the Superstock class, the two leaders crashed out in the space of a few moments: the Kawasaki No. 33 of TEAM 33 LOUIT APRIL MOTO, which may have difficulty starting again, and the Yamaha No. 18 of TEAM 18 SAPEURS POMPIERS CMS MOTOSTORE.
The safety car has been deployed, while the race is currently dominated by the BMW No. 37 (BMW MOTORRAD WORLD ENDURANCE TEAM) after nineteen hours of racing. The German official team took advantage of the engine failure of the Yamaha No. 7 (YART – Yamaha Official Team EWC), another contender for the victory, to take the lead.
