He put on another spectacular display of emotion, but in Supersport second IDM Supersport at the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben, Dirk Geiger (MCA Racing) was defeated by an opponent—unlike yesterday. Today, defending champion Andreas Kofler (Yamalube Motorsport Kofler) stood on the top step of the podium after 15 laps covering a total of 55.0005 kilometers.
It was a long way from pole position, where Andreas Kofler was starting, to the back of the pack, where Dirk Geiger had to start after exceeding the engine limit. But the Mannheim native had already shown yesterday that a victory is possible even from the very back of the grid. Kofler pulled off one of his famous lightning-fast starts up front, but Geiger was also off to a flying start. It took him just half a straight to make up eight positions. The 23-year-old Honda rider came out of the first lap already in seventh place.
Defending champion Kofler was under pressure from Ducati riders Daniel Blin (AF Racing) and Luca de Vleeschauwer (Track and Trades Wixx Racing). The Panigale V2s were swapping positions back and forth, with de Vleeschauwer experiencing a slide that nearly sent him crashing. Teammate Melvin van der Voort didn’t get off so lightly and took a massive spill. And Geiger was already in fourth. The gap between him and the leader, Andy Kofler, had shrunk to 2.3 seconds with eleven laps remaining.
Geiger's comeback was absolutely incredible, but not quite as dominant as it was yesterday in the first race. He managed to beat the Ducati riders, but both Blin and de Vleeschauwer were right on his heels. Was there still a chance in that situation?
There were five laps left on the clock when it happened: Geiger took the lead in the race. Kofler went too wide in the turn and lost his rhythm. The Austrian now had more trouble keeping Blin behind him. On the penultimate lap, Kofler regained his former strength, caught Geiger off guard, and held on until the finish line. With a lead of 0.084 seconds, the victory went to Kofler. And with it, the lead in the overall standings. He now has a three-point lead over the German.
“It wasn’t exactly the plan for it to be this close,” Kofler said at the award ceremony. “Although I knew Dirk would show up at the front at some point. I’ve lost to him twice before. I wasn’t going to let that happen a third time.”
Third place went not to Daniel Blin, as expected, but to Luca de Vleeschauwer, whom no one really had on their radar anymore. But the Pole made a surprising mistake on the final lap and had to let the Belgian take the lead. Three riders from three different countries stood on the podium on three different motorcycle brands.
Marvin Siebdrath (Yamalube Motorsport Kofler) went into the race with high hopes but ultimately finished sixth. However, the first sector of the track gave him trouble all weekend. “I’m having trouble getting the most out of the tires. I’m not getting enough feedback, and that makes it very hard to put together a fast lap on command during qualifying so I can secure a better spot on the grid.” The winner of the first race in Most, Czech Republic, would have liked to wave from the podium again. Instead, Dylan Czarkowski, the rising star with the #12 from last year’s IDM Supersport , achieved his best result to date.
IDM Supersport, Round 2
1. Andreas KOFLER (AUT), Yamaha
2. Dirk GEIGER (GER), Honda
3. Luca DE VLEESCHAUWER (BEL), Ducati
4. Daniel BLIN (POL), Ducati
5. Štěpán ZUDA (CZE), Yamaha
6. Marvin SIEBDRATH (GER), Yamaha
7. Julius Caesar RÖRIG (GER), Honda
8. Filip FEIGL (CZE), Triumph
9. Dylan CZARKOWSKI (NED), Yamaha
10.Lennox LEHMANN (GER), Yamaha
11.Richard IRMSCHER (GER), Honda
12. Till Benedikt BELCZYKOWSKI (GER), MV Agusta
13. Luca GÖTTLICHER (GER), Kawasaki
14. Ruben BIJMAN (NED), Honda
15. Thomas EDER (GER), Ducati