The first race of the Supersport class at the International German Motorcycle Championship (IDM) in Schleiz had it all: excitement, comebacks, thrilling duels—and an abrupt end. In the end, Dirk Geiger secured a commanding victory, while Daniel Blin and Luca De Vleeschauwer rounded out the podium.
Geiger off to a dream start – Van der Voort slips up
The pace of the race was already evident right from the start: Dirk Geiger (MCA Racing) got off to the best start, shooting up from fourth on the grid to second place and settling in behind Switzerland’s Marcel Brenner (MotoLife). Things went quite differently for Melvin van der Voort: The Dutchman got off to a slow start and initially fell far behind. At the end of the first lap, the order was: Geiger ahead of Brenner, Blin, and the fast-climbing Luca De Vleeschauwer (Track and Trades Wixx Racing), who fought his way up from eighth on the grid to fourth. Right behind them was Andreas Kofler (Yamalube Motorsport Kofler), who also got off to a lightning-fast start from eleventh place. By the end of the first lap, Geiger had already taken the lead. Brenner held onto second place, followed by Daniel Blin (AF Racing Team).
Geiger dominates – Blin on the rise
While Dylan Czarkowski (Füsport – RT Motorsports by SKM) crashed on lap four—and was thus forced to retire early, just as he had in Oschersleben—Blin set his sights on the lead and passed Brenner to move into second place. Geiger, meanwhile, was out of reach—with consistently fast lap times, he steadily extended his lead. By lap 13, that lead was already more than two seconds. That was his plan: “I knew that starting from fourth place wouldn’t be easy, especially because overtaking at Schleiz is difficult. That’s why I applied pressure right away—it worked perfectly,” Geiger explained with satisfaction after the race.
Collision following a counterattack
The battle for third place remained intense: First, Luca De Vleeschauwer and Kofler were locked in a close duel, then, on the twelfth lap, a battle for third place erupted between the Belgian and Marvin Siebdrath, who had been putting in an impressive performance up to that point. The decisive moment finally came on lap 13: While attempting to defend his third-place position, contact occurred between them, resulting in a collision. “Marvin had just passed me, so I went for a counter-move. I thought I was already past him because I couldn’t see him anymore—unfortunately, that led to contact and the crashes,” De Vleeschauwer described the scene. Race officials reacted immediately and stopped the race. Fortunately, both riders remained uninjured and were able to bring their bikes back to the pits in time to be classified. According to the rules, in the event of a race stoppage, the penultimate fully completed lap is used for classification—thus, De Vleeschauwer was mathematically in third place.
The final result
However, the incident was investigated. After hours of deliberation and hearings with the drivers, the race stewards decided at 6:50 p.m. to revise the results: De Vleeschauwer was penalized and moved back one position. Consequently, Marvin Siebdrath was retroactively awarded third place, and De Vleeschauwer finished fourth.
Marcel Brenner, who tested at Schleiz for the first time just last week, finished fifth, followed by Melvin van der Voort in sixth and Štepán Zuda in seventh.
Julius Caesar Rörig (MCA Racing) got off to a strong start, but ran out of steam as the race went on. He finished the race in ninth place. In addition to the physical challenges he faced following his serious crash on Friday, Kofler also encountered technical problems during the race. He lost speed and dropped back to tenth place by the time the race was stopped.
IDM Supersport Race 1 Results:
- Dirk GEIGER (GER), Honda
- Daniel BLIN (POL), Ducati
- Marvin SIEBDRATH (GER), Yamaha
- Luca DE VLEESCHAUWER (BEL), Ducati
- Marcel BRENNER (CHE), Ducati
- Melvin VAN DER VOORT (NLD), Ducati
- Štepán ZUDA (CZE), Yamaha
- Filip FEIGL (CZE), Triumph
- Julius Caesar RÖRIG (GER), Honda
- Andreas KOFLER (AUT), Yamaha
- Jonáš KOCOUREK (CZE), Ducati
- Till Benedikt BELCZYKOWSKI (GER), MV Agusta
- Ruben BIJMAN (NLD), Honda
- Thomas EDER (GER), Ducati
- Damien RAEMY (CHE), Yamaha