The 2025 FIM Endurance World Championship gets underway this weekend with the 24 Heures Motos at Le Mans, an iconic endurance race at an equally iconic racetrack. Free Practice 1 begins Thursday at 10 a.m. local time on the 14-turn, 2.6-mile Bugatti Circuit in Le Mans, France.
This year, we have even more reason to get excited about the famed 24 Hours of Le Mans because one of our own will be competing in the event. MotoAmerica rider Michael Gilbert will link up with Sweden’s Christoffer Bergman and Spain’s Daniel Gonzalez on Maco Racing’s Dunlop-equipped Yamaha YZF-R1.
Gilbert, the 28-year-old former motojournalist from Orange County, California, competed for Maco Racing at the 8 Hours of Spa Motos in last year’s FIM EWC with fellow MotoAmerica stars Jason Pridmore and Andrew Lee.
The FIM EWC posed five questions to Gilbert leading up to the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Below are the questions and Gilbert’s answers:
Q:
It’s great you’re back in the EWC but how did your return with Maco Racing, for what will be a step up to the top Formula EWC category, come together?
Gilbert:
Obviously, I grew up racing motorcycles, as we all did. I started racing motocross when I was three years old, did that for many, many years. Then I transitioned over to little pocket bikes and moved my way up. For the past 10 years I’ve been racing professionally in the United States in MotoAmerica, Superstock 600, Supersport, Stock 1000, Superbike, I’ve kind of done it all. I had some injuries in 2022 and ran off into 2023 racing Supersport and, truthfully, it didn’t go to plan, so I decided to take a bit of a break in 2024. That being said, there was one night when we were all at our local racetrack, we have a big garage there, and Andrew Lee, who’s a MotoAmerica champion, said, ‘Man, I’d love to be at Le Mans’. Jason Pridmore, my coach and mentor (and former EWC champion), was in the back and said, ‘I can send one text, and you guys can be over there like that, no problem’. He sends a text to Denisa (Grešková from Maco Racing) and, by the following afternoon, we already had plans in place to go to Spa.
Q:
So, Spa got the ball rolling. How good was your first EWC experience?
Gilbert:
For me, it was such a refreshing experience. There were a lot of new experiences, sharing a motorcycle with two other riders, I’d never done an endurance race, at least on a full-size motorcycle, and, truthfully, I felt we did really well. We had an issue running out of fuel in our first stint of the race due to a bit of a miscommunication. Add that time in that we lost and we would have finished maybe top five in Superstock. For our first time I was impressed and proud of ourselves. After the race, I stayed in touch with Denisa and, about seven weeks ago, Denisa texted me to say we want you for the 2025 Endurance World Championship on the Superbike. Things started happening very quick, and we’re here. It’s going to be my first experience at Le Mans, I’m really excited, but a little nervous. The past couple of weeks I was like, ‘What did I get myself into?’ But I figure once we get the ball rolling and get some laps in, it will be just fine. It’s a kind of fresh take, something completely new to me, and we’ll take it as it comes.
Q:
Is there a chance for more or is Le Mans a one-off right now?
Gilbert:
Let’s see how Le Mans goes. Truthfully, I would need to find some support from the U.S. to come over here or maybe I do my first 24 Hour and decide this isn’t for me because it’s a brutal race, for sure, and we’ll go from there. I think the performance at Spa, if anything, was consistent. All three of us—myself, Andrew, and Jason—put in very consistent rides. At Spa, I struggled a little bit with the motorcycle to the extent I didn’t feel I was extracting my full potential in terms of speed, but we were able to put down very consistent times and that was able to get us there. Truthfully, and this is my perception, what I think really attracted Maco was a little bit of the family atmosphere we brought, too.
For the Americans, this is really exciting. We had family there, we had wives and friends, and that’s going to be the same at Le Mans. I have a big crew coming over here, which is really fun. I’ve got my parents to come over. My dad has never had a passport in his life. Not anything against Europe but he has no interest in leaving the United States. I got him to come to Le Mans, so that should be pretty fun. Even coming back to the paddock (for the pre-test), just seeing everyone, I felt very welcomed, and I like to think that’s part of it. Le Mans is very attractive to American riders, and I think everyone wants to do it, but it kind of conflicts with MotoAmerica. Typically, the MotoAmerica season opener is just before Le Mans, or just after it, and it’s really difficult to do both. It’s not exactly easy for us to get here. It’s 12 hours to get here, and it’s expensive, too. Hopefully, we can do a good job and that opens the door to bring some other Americans over. I actually have Nolan Lamkin in the pit with me. He’s the reserve rider and is an accomplished Stock 1000 rider back in MotoAmerica.
Q:
What would make you happy come next Sunday afternoon at Le Mans?
Gilbert:
To be honest, I just want to finish the race. Obviously, this team is capable, and I feel I’m capable, but it’s going to be a completely different experience for me. Eight hours is kind of a piece of cake, but 24 hours in these conditions is going to be tough. Of course, I want a really good result but, at the end of the day, I just want to be able to say I’ve finished the 24 Hours of Le Mans because it’s a cool story.
Q:
It’s a cool story but a hard story, right?
Gilbert:
One of the things that attracts me is you’re going to go through highs and you’re going to go through lows all at the same time. Every team and every rider is, and there’s going to be times when you don’t want to be on the racetrack and you probably get done and think you don’t ever want to do that again. But it’s going to make for a really awesome story, and that’s what really attracts me to it. I like tough bicycle races and rides. A lot of the time, it’s like, ‘What am I doing? This is no fun.’ You get done and, the next day, you’re like, ‘I’m never doing that again’. But then, two or three days later, you’re like, ‘Let’s go do that again.’ I kind of think this is what this is, and that’s why I’m attracted to it. But let’s see.
Following Free Practice 1 on Thursday, the first Qualifying sessions and Night Practice will commence later in the day. Qualifying concludes on Friday. The legendary race, with its traditional running start, begins on Saturday at 3 p.m. local time. The winners will be crowned on Sunday afternoon after the full 24 hours of racing concludes.
For more information about the 24 Hours of Le Mans, go to https://www.24h-motos.com/en
For Live Timing of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, go to https://www.24h-motos.com/en/live-timing
For Results of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, go to https://www.24h-motos.com/en/results
