Image: Supplied.

Australian Jason O’Halloran has made an exceptional debut with the Yamalube YART EWC Official Team at the iconic Le Mans 24 Hours, helping secure victory in what he labelled as the ‘trickiest race’ of his career.

Teaming up with Marvin Fritz and Karel Hanika on the factory-backed YZF-R1, the trio delivered a dream start to the 2025 FIM Endurance World Championship (EWC) campaign by claiming the victory.

“My first race with YART, and my first 24-hour race, so to win here at Le Mans is incredible,” reflected O’Halloran. “The whole team has done an amazing job throughout the week. Due to the conditions, it is certainly the trickiest race I have ever been involved in.

“We had to think on our feet on the bike all the race, deciding whether you needed to pit to swap tyres, or what strategy we needed to adapt. It was a long race, but my teammates were incredible.

“I actually enjoyed riding during the night, because you can get your head down and work away at it, but when the sun comes up, you realise there is still a long way to go. The final 10 minutes were probably the longest 10 minutes of my life, but we did it. The whole team should be so proud, and I want to thank each and every one of them – they worked so hard, and we deserved the victory.”

The next stop on the EWC calendar for O’Halloran – who has also been filling in for Jonathan Rea in WorldSBK during recent rounds – and the YART squad is the 8 Hours of Spa at Belgium’s Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps between 6-7 June.