Having travelled to France in second place in the overall standings, with the prospect of winning the world championship title, Marvin Fritz and his team-mates were content with a fourth-place finish in the final practice session.

A few hours before the start of the race on Saturday afternoon, heavy rain fell and made tyre selection a poker. After the rain had stopped at the start of the grid, Marvin Fritz and his teammates decided ten minutes before the start to be one of the few teams to start on treadless slick tyres.

 

Marvin Fritz." That was the right decision, which saved us an extra pit stop. The track dried very quickly, and the other teams lost valuable time due to the additional tyre change from rain to slick tyres."

After two hours of racing, Marvin Fritz was in first position. During the rest of the race and during the night, the YART trio Fritz/Hanika/Canepa and their strongest competitors F.C.C. TSR Honda France and Yoshimura Sert Motul Suzuki had a tough fight.

Marvin Fritz:" Time went by faster than usual. Due to the high average speed and the high fuel consumption, shorter stints were necessary. The bike was well broken in, everything was going well until then."

At half past seven on Sunday morning, the problems started.

Marvin Fritz:" We were just happy, had a comfortable lead of several laps and had filled our points account with more points after eight and 16 hours. Suddenly, team-mate Hanika came into the pits prematurely with radiator problems two laps before the end of the stint. The pit crew managed a temporary solution and I was able to continue the race, albeit with a lot of time lost."

Numerous safety car phases, caused by the technical problems of the other teams, made the last third of the race a nerve-racking spectacle for Fritz and Co. In fourth place, the YART trio had to repeatedly make additional pit stops due to radiator problems. Marvin Fritz: "We had reached the highest stress level, our chances of winning the title seemed to be dissolving in the radiator three hours before the end."

 

But the technical crew of YART team boss Mandy Kainz solved the problem temporarily and at the last minute, and with a fourth place, Marvin Fritz and his colleagues achieved the miracle.

Marvin Fritz:" The last minutes were the longest of my life. I never gave up."

Marvin Fritz, the two-time German champion from 2014 and 2016, was finally able to bring home his much-deserved world championship title after two years dogged by bad luck.

 

Overall standings World Endurance Championship (EWC) 2023:

1st Marvin Fritz/Karel Hanika/ Niccolo Canepa YART YAMAHA / 181 points.

2nd G.Black/S.Guintoli/E. Masson/ Yoshimura Sert Motul Suzuki / 161 points

3rd M. Reiterberger/I.Mykhalchyk/J.Guarnoni BMW Motorrad Team / 160 points