With his Honda victory in Supersport first Supersport, Dirk Geiger has taken the lead in the championship. Andreas Kofler (Yamalube Motorsport Kofler) is having a hard time coming to terms with losing the championship lead, but his hands are tied.
The Upper Austrian finished in tenth place and is just glad he made it to the finish line. The weekend has been particularly tough on last year’s champion from Attnang-Puchheim. The 20-year-old crashed on Friday during practice in the Seng, the fastest section of the Schleizer Dreieck. “I went off at 240 km/h. The front wheel buckled. I don’t know why,” Kofler said, at a loss.
Since then, he’s been moving around with a limp. “Luckily, I didn’t break anything, but everything hurts. I can’t get up on my own. My whole musculoskeletal system took a beating,” says Kofler, who can barely hold a cup with any effort. The whole thing has really taken a toll on him.
In qualifying, the Yamaha YZF-R6 rider managed to secure the eleventh grid spot for the race. From there, he immediately made up ground with his usual Kofler-style lightning start. He was in fourth place when his body reached its limit, and he dropped back to tenth place because a small part on the bike caused braking difficulties and disrupted the electronics.
Winner Dirk Geiger (MCA Racing) took the championship lead from him on this occasion and now holds an eight-point advantage. Kofler is huffing and puffing and would rather not think about it at all, but he knows things aren’t going to get any better for him right now. But as usual, the fighter comes through: “Tomorrow I’ll make the same start and make sure I stay up front.” He can tend to his wounds later.
