Kevin Calia has experienced joy and despair at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps but returns to the legendary Belgian track next month ready to bid for back-to-back FIM Endurance World Championship Superstock category wins in the 8 Hours of Spa Motos.
Still counting on Aprilia power and Dunlop tyres, Calia, 30, forms part of the all-Italian Revo-M2 line-up. The 2023 FIM Endurance World Cup winner took time out of his busy schedule to answer five key questions.
The second running of the 8 Hours of Spa Motos is fast approaching. How confident are you of winning for a second season running?
“Last year we won the race in Superstock and I think this year we can fight again for the win because we have a good bike and my team-mates are so fast, so the target is to battle for the race win.”
Last month's 24 Heures Motos proved tough for Calia and his team-mates
It didn’t go to plan during the 24 Heures Motos at Le Mans last month. What went wrong?
“In Le Mans we were in the leading pack, but the race was very tricky, very crazy. It was the most difficult race since I am in endurance, I’ve never had such a hard race because the weather conditions changed a lot. During the night it was so difficult not to do a mistake because the line was the line but outside it was wet, so it was completely difficult to race in these conditions. As we saw from the MotoGP last week Le Mans is Le Mans and it’s not easy.”
The inaugural 24H SPA EWC Motos in 2022 also wasn’t easy. What are your memories of that race, particularly in the rain?
“We were so unlucky because the bike didn’t stop when it crashed and it was 100 per cent throttle on the wall and the engine couldn’t cope in these conditions. I was very sad because we were leading the 24-hour race and also for Team 33. They was struggling in this period to have a podium finish so it was very sad and very bad for us to be in this situation.”
Calia celebrates winning the 2024 8 Hours of Spa Motos
From that very tough situation you experienced the joy of winning at Spa when you formed part of the Superstock-winning Team Aviobike by M2 Revo squad in 2024. How good was that moment?
“It was amazing because we only had two riders, one of our riders [Francesco Cocco] had a problem and couldn’t ride in the race. We were two riders and we pushed a lot during the race, sometimes doing double stints. It was so hard but so fun because Spa is one of the most beautiful tracks in the world and winning this race was an amazing feeling, there is no better.”
And what’s so good about Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps?
“Spa is quite like Imola, it’s an old-school circuit with a lot of fast corners and, of course, you have Eau Rouge, one of the most important corners in the world. I love it since the first time I’ve been there. Winning Spa was fantastic, but I remember the 24 hours was really, really amazing, too, when you have the forest in the night. I love Spa.”
Italian ace Calia is in "love" with Spa
The 8 Hours of Spa Motos is next on the 2025 EWC schedule and takes place at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium from 6-7 June. Ticket information is available HERE.
Original Source [ FIM EWC ]
