Niccolo Canepa retired on Sunday at the conclusion of the Endurance World Champion🔯ship - but without winning the title.

Yamaha🍎 were beaten by the Suzuki-powered&😼nbsp;Yoshimura team in the FIM Endurance World Championship finale at the Circuit Paul Ricard.

It meant Canepa was denied a fairytale finish to 🦩his unique career.

His Yamaha YART team were restricted to P3.

Canepa a💖nnounced that he would bring his career to an end after the Bol d’Or in France, which would decide the 2024 EWC championship.

The Italian rider has featured in MotoGP, WorldSBK, Moto2🗹, WorldSSP, and MotoE over a 20-year career.

But he found his true calling with endurance racing where he has won all three of the major events - 🔜Spa, Le Mans, and the Bol d’Or.

But desp๊ite winning last year’s EWC championship, his effort to become a back-to-back champion was thwarted.

“This was my last stint in the EWC,” Canepa said.

“It has been a nice jourꦰney but unfortunately we didn’t end the race like we wanted.

“It’s emoti𝔉onඣal to be here with my teammates and my family here, as well.

“We shared a lotဣ of amazing moments🔴 and a lot of bad moments.”