For the team, Andreas Kofler (Yamalube Motorsport Kofler) Supersport a perfect start Supersport his title defense in the IDM Supersport class. After a flawless victory at the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben, he has the first 25 points in the bag. It doesn’t get any better than that. Dirk Geiger (MCA Racing) could have posed a serious threat, but the Honda rider was suddenly slowed down by technical problems.
In the second round, Geiger put pressure on the leading 2024 Supersport, setting a time even faster than in qualifying. Behind him were Luca de Vleeschauwer (Track and Trades Wixx Racing), Daniel Blin (AF Racing Team), Marvin Siebdrath (Yamalube Kofler Motorsport), Melvin van der Voort (Track and Trades Wixx Racing), Marcel Brenner (MotoLife), and Julius Caesar Rörig (MCA Racing).
A neck-and-neck battle until disaster struck
The disaster began for Geiger in Lap 5. He slowed down and lost touch with Kofler. The Austrian was gone. There was nothing he could do. Geiger could now forget about winning. At the same time, the Ducatis were closing in from behind. But everything seemed to be leveling off. The gaps between the top four riders remained constant. It was a battle among equals at an extremely high level—until Geiger, completely unexpectedly, lost six seconds in a single lap. That’s when it finally became clear: something wasn’t right here.
The team later examined the motorcycle but was unable to determine what had caused Geiger to fall out of podium contention. Ultimately, the two Ducati riders, Luca de Vleeschauwer and Daniel Blin, finished behind the dominant Yamaha rider Kofler—“we were already brutally fast.” For the Belgian, it was his first podium finish in his new Ducati career, right in his very first race. The Pole repeated his triumph from the season opener a year ago.
Geiger had to let not only the two Ducati riders pass him, but also Marvin Siebdrath and Melvin van der Voort. He voluntarily gave way to his teammate, Julius Caesar Rörig. The 18-year-old achieved his best result yet in his Supersport with a sixth-place finish.
Till Belczykowski (LJ Racing), the only MV Agusta rider, returned to the top ten after a year and a half. According to his team boss, Andreas Köder, Swiss rider Marcel Brenner is also right on track. “Marcel had been in such poor health and had barely been able to test so far that we didn’t expect any more than this. Quite the contrary.”
Iñigo Iglesias (Triumph Germany Supersport ) charged from 18th on the grid to 11th place in the race. Things are far from settled, though, considering that Iglesias is expected to be competing for the top spots. The top Kawasaki rider was “Lucky Luc” Luca Göttlicher in 13th place.
IDM Supersport, Race 1:
1. Andreas KOFLER (AUT), Yamaha
2. Luca DE VLEESCHAUWER (BEL), Ducati
3. Daniel BLIN (POL), Ducati
4. Marvin SIEBDRATH (DEU), Yamaha
5. Melvin VAN DER VOORT (NLD), Ducati
6. Julius Caesar RÖRIG (DEU), Honda
7. Dirk GEIGER (GER), Honda
8. Štepán ZUDA (CZE), Yamaha
9. Marcel BRENNER (SUI), Ducati
10. Till Benedikt BELCZYKOWSKI (GER), MV Agusta
11. Iñigo IGLESIAS BRAVO (ESP), Triumph
12. Filip FEIGL (CZE), Triumph
13. Luca GÖTTLICHER (DEU), Kawasaki
14. Ruben BIJMAN (NLD), Honda
15. Jonáš KOCOUREK (CZE), Ducati