If you’re prone to low blood pressure, you don’t need a pill—just watch an IDM Supersport race. In Oschersleben, heart rates shot up suddenly during the first race. It wasn’t until the final lap that it became clear that Luca de Vleeschauwer (MotoLife), Lennox Lehmann (Yamalube Kofler), and Marvin Siebdrath (Yamaha M32) would be heading to the podium.
After the start of the 15-lap race at the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben, Andreas Kofler immediately took the lead. Season-opener winner Stepan Zuda crashed out of the race right away on his red Ducati. What bad luck for the Czech rider: At the end of April, he had suffered a violent crash at 200 km/h while testing on the track and was taken to the hospital. He doesn’t remember much about it. In the end, he got away with just some bruises. But he probably won’t be making friends with the track anymore.
Kyle Smith was considered a dark horse for the race. After all, it was typical English weather—and the Brit had already won a round of the Supersport World Championship in such conditions. Kofler, however, wasn’t fazed by this. But when runner-up Twan Smits pulled ahead of him, he was quite taken aback. The Dutchman seemed to have complete confidence in the front wheel of his Apreco Yamaha. Kofler, however, managed to turn the tables again. Behind him, a pack of powerhouses—Smits, Lennox Lehmann, Dirk Geiger, Daniel Blin, and Luca de Vleeschauwer—was waiting for the next chance to overtake. Geiger, on his Honda, was braking extremely late. Triumph rider de Vleeschauer noticed that the Yamahas at the front were picking up the pace. The air seemed to be literally on fire. Suddenly, Lehmann took the lead. On the other side, Smits crashed. In the right-hand turn, the Yamaha’s gear had clearly popped out and then engaged again. The rear wheel locked up. Crash. Smits immediately got up from the gravel and was incredibly lucky that nothing worse had happened.
The last three laps were chaos. Blin made a mistake. Siebdrath passed the Pole. Then he was overtaken by Lehmann and Kofler. But de Vleeschauwer was already in the mix, ultimately securing Triumph’s first victory. The Belgian shouted with joy, and the team embraced each other. They’d done it.
What else happened: The English weather didn’t help Kyle Smith. The Brit finished eighth. And former champion Kevin Wahr did his best to limit the damage on his Triumph after having to start from 21st on the grid. He made up eight positions.
IDM Supersport, Round 1:
1. Luca DE VLEESCHAUWER (BE/Triumph)
2. Lennox LEHMANN (D/Yamaha)
3. Marvin SIEBDRATH (D/Yamaha)
4. Daniel BLIN (PL/Ducati)
5. Andreas KOFLER (A/Yamaha)
6. Dirk GEIGER (D/Honda)
7. Kyle SMITH (GB/Kawasaki)
8. Filip FEIGL (CZ/Triumph)
9. Luca GÖTTLICHER (D/Triumph)
10.Sasha DE VITS (BE/Yamaha)
11. Wiljan VAN WIKSELAAR (NL/Ducati)
12. Julius Caesar RÖRIG (D/Honda)
13. Kevin WAHR (D/Triumph)
14. Jorke ERWIG (D/Kawasaki)
15. Thomas EDER (D/Yamaha)