A year ago, Twan Smits battled his Dutch compatriot Melvin van der Voort for the Supersport title and ultimately lost on a technicality. Now that his rival has left the series, Smits would theoretically have had a clear path to the top. In reality, things have turned out differently. The 20-year-old Yamaha rider from Team Apreco has been plagued by bad luck, including at the International German Motorcycle Championship (IDM) currently taking place in Most.
“El Raketo” hasn’t really gotten going yet. After a rather lackluster start to the season at the Sachsenring and two races without points at Oschersleben, Twan Smits isn’t in the best position in the title race. But despite the growing and now intense competition, it’s not too late. “The fact remains that the title is the goal,” the Yamaha rider says, maintaining a fighting spirit even in Most, Czech Republic. “We’ll improve race by race and deliver the best possible outcome.”
But today, the Dutch rider was struck by misfortune once again during the IDM free practice session Supersport . In the first free practice session, he was thrown from his Yamaha just 300 meters into the session at approximately 80 km/h; the cause was believed to be a tire issue. The session was over after that, and Smits had only one free practice session left today to secure his position: 13th place.
The fastest rider of the day was Daniel Blin on the Ducati Panigale V2. The 22-year-old Pole has already stood on the podium twice and had been testing at Most beforehand. His AF Racing teammate Stepan Zuda, who had won the season opener, was stuck in 16th place after making numerous changes to his bike. The second-fastest rider of the day was Jonáš Kocourek, another Ducati rider; however, as a guest rider, he will not receive any points in the race and is competing outside the standings. Fans still remember Kocourek from last year, when the then-17-year-old Czech rider was still racing on a Triumph.
Marvin Siebdrath (Yamaha Racing by M32) was third fastest in free practice. The rookie has been finding his footing in the Supersport class and made his podium debut at Oschersleben. “I’ve already spent half a day practicing on the track,” says the rider from Wildenfels, “the rest of the time it was wet. I did exactly two laps.” But trailing by just 0.018 seconds, the German once again had Belgian rider Luca de Vleeschauwer (MotoLife) on his heels today on his Triumph. The top ten riders are all within one second of each other.
