FIM Endurance World Championship

The long distance races appeared almost at the same time of the invention of the internal combustion engine at the end of the 19th century, with races being held between major cities such as Paris-Rouen in 1894, Paris-Bordeaux, Paris-Madrid and others. In those years cars and motos raced together, competing for speed (fastest time) or regularity (achieving a certain objective time). These races on open roads were very dangerous, and the successive fatal tragedies (such as 1903 Paris-Madrid) move the race to roads closed to normal traffic (before the creation of real racing circuits) led to the separation of cars and motos, and the long distance races turning into rallies

The Bol d’Or (most famous and prestigious Endurance race) was held for the first time in 1922 on the circuit of Vaujours, near Paris (a beaten-earth road circuit used since 1888 for 24-hour competitions for bicycles). Other endurance races were created after World War II, such as 24 Hour Race in Warsage (Belgium) in 1951, the 500 Miles of Thruxton in 1955, the 24 Hours of Montjuich in Barcelona in 1957, and the 24 hours of Monza (Italy) in 1959.. At the beginning, most races were held over 24 Hours, but soon shorter races were introduced, defined in terms either of distance (500 Miles, 1000 Miles, and much later even 200 Miles) or of time (12 Hours, 8 Hours or 6 Hours).[2]

The series was founded in 1960 as the FIM Endurance Cup.[3] Initially it was made up of four races: Thruxton 500, 24 hours of Montjuïc, 24 hours of Warsage and the Bol d'Or.[3]

The Bol d’Or was not held between 1961 and 1968, while the 1000 km of Paris, was held twice on the circuit of Monthléry. In the first decade, the FIM EC races were held essentially in Great Britain, Italy and Spain – the three countries with more riders

In 1976 the FIM Endurance Cup became the European Championship and in 1980 a World Championship. During the 1980s the Endurance World Championship calendar numbered up to ten events. The championship's popularity gradually declined and the calendar was gradually reduced to just the four so-called “classics”: 24 Hours of Le Mans, 24 Hours of Liège (held in Spa-Francorchamps), 8 Hours Of Suzuka, and the Bol d'Or (held mostly on Paul Ricard or Magny-Cours).

In 1989 and 1990 the Championship went back to a World Cup status, as the number of events required by the FIM Sporting Code was not reached.

The 4 events championship (with 24 Hours of Liège being replaced by other races) in the same year was maintained until 2016. In 2015 FIM and the pan-European television sports network, Eurosport signed a deal for the promotion and coverage of the competition. With this, the organization re-ordered the events, in order to the new championship starting in September and finishing in July, with the European races being held during the winter avoiding the MotoGP and Superbikes schedules.

[4]

Year Rider Bike 1980 Marc Fontan Hervé Moineau Honda 1981 Jean Lafond Raymond Roche Kawasaki 1982 Jean-Claude Chemarin Jacques Cornu Kawasaki 1983 Richard Hubin Hervé Moineau Suzuki GS series 1984 Gerard Coudray Patrick Igoa Honda RVF750 1985 Gerard Coudray Patrick Igoa Honda RVF750 1986 Patrick Igoa Honda RVF750 1987 Hervé Moineau Bruno Le Bihan Suzuki 1988 Hervé Moineau Thierry Crine Suzuki 1989 Alex Vieira Honda RVF750 1990 Alex Vieira Honda 1991 Alex Vieira Kawasaki 1992 Terry Rymer Carl Fogarty Kawasaki 1993 Doug Toland Kawasaki Ninja ZX-7R 1994 Adrien Morillas Kawasaki 1995 Stéphane Mertens Jean-Michel Mattioli Honda RC45 1996 Brian Morrison Kawasaki 1997 Peter Goddard Doug Polen Suzuki 1998 Doug Polen Christian Lavieille Honda RC45 1999 Terry Rymer Jéhan d'Orgeix Suzuki 2000 Peter Lindén Warwick Nowland Suzuki

1980–1988, 1991– World Championship 1989–1990 World Cup

Year	Team	Points	Bike	Riders
2001	WIM Motors Racing	182	Honda RC51	Albert Aerts, Laurent Naveau and Heinz Platacis
2002	Zongshen 2	123	Suzuki GSX-R1000	Warwick Nowland
2003	Suzuki GB - Phase One	143	Suzuki GSX-R1000	James Ellison and Jason Pridmore
2004	Yamaha - GMT 94	169	Yamaha YZF-R1	David Checa and William Costes
2005	Suzuki Castrol	134	Suzuki GSX-R1000	Keiichi Kitagawa
2006	Suzuki Castrol	185	Suzuki GSX-R1000	Keiichi Kitagawa, Matthieu Lagrive and Vincent Philippe
2007	Suzuki Endurance Racing	165	Suzuki GSX-R1000	Matthieu Lagrive and Vincent Philippe
2008	Suzuki Endurance Racing	109	Suzuki GSX-R1000	Julien Da Costa
2009	Yamaha Austria Racing Team	145	Yamaha YZF-R1	Gwen Giabbani, Igor Jerman and Steve Martin
2010	Suzuki Endurance Racing	133	Suzuki GSX-R 1000	Vincent Philippe and Freddy Foray
2011	Suzuki Endurance Racing	109	Suzuki GSX-R 1000	Anthony Delhalle
2012	Suzuki Endurance Racing	128	Suzuki GSX-R 1000	Anthony Delhalle, Vincent Philippe and Jason Pridmore
2013	Suzuki Endurance Racing	93	Suzuki GSX-R 1000	Anthony Delhalle
2014	Yamaha Racing - GMT 94 - Michelin	141	Yamaha YZF-R1	David Checa, Mathieu Gines and Kenny Foray
2015	Suzuki Endurance Racing	154	Suzuki GSX-R 1000	Anthony Delhalle, Etienne Masson and Vincent Philippe
2016	Suzuki Endurance Racing (8)	88	Suzuki GSX-R 1000	Anthony Delhalle(5), Etienne Masson and Vincent Philippe(6)
2016–17	GMT94 Yamaha	146	Yamaha YZF-R1 (4)	Niccolò Canepa and David Checa
2017–18	F.C.C. TSR Honda France	171,5	Honda CBR1000RR	Josh Hook, Alan Techer, Freddy Foray
2018–19	TEAM SRC KAWASAKI FRANCE	145,5	ZX-10R	Jérémy Guarnoni, David Checa, Erwan Nigon
2019–20

For registered races of less than 8 hours:[5]

For registered races from 8 hours to 12 hours:

For registered races of 24 hours:

• For teams, the points will be those gained in each race.
• For Constructors, only the highest placed motorcycle of a Constructor will gain points, according to the position in the race.

For registered races with duration from 12 to 24 hours, a partial classification will be established. After 8 hours and 16 hours, the 10 teams (and their riders), that are leading the race at that time will receive scratch bonus points as follow:

After 8 hours race and after 16 hours race:

• These bonus points will be awarded independently with the results of the race.
• Constructors are not concerned by this rule and will not receive bonus points.

Motorcycles must be based on road going models with a valid FIM homologation[5]

• Official website
• Official website at FIM
• Race24.com Unofficial website, covering the championship since 1999. Archive of official site between 2005 and 2006