A Ducati rider from Poland pulled off a stunning victory. Daniel Blin is the first winner in the new EURO MOTO Supersport series. With a brilliant move in the final corner at the Sachsenring, he won Saturday’s race by a margin of 0.040 seconds over Yamaha rookie Dirk Geiger. Behind them, the battle was even closer.
Geiger had made a strong statement in qualifying and secured pole position. And he did it all with a new team and a new bike. The Yamaha YZF-R6 is history. Long live its successor, the R9. Three cylinders instead of four. But in a complete surprise, Daniel Blin (Automarket AF Racing Team) zoomed past the “Hessian Tornado.”
Behind them were Luca de Vleeschauwer (Team SWPN), Lennox Lehmann (Team Apreco), Marcel Brenner (Automarket AF Racing Team), Marvin Siebdrath, and Julius Ahrenkiel-Frellsen (both MCA Racing). The latter is 18 years old and a product of the MCA youth program. The Dane had already raced for the team in the Northern Talent Cup in 2023. On Friday, the project hit a snag. Because he had not turned on the rain lights during practice in the adverse weather conditions, he was penalized with a three-place grid penalty. Ultimately, this did not prevent him from making his debut in the Supersport class with a seventh-place finish.
Blin held on tenaciously at the front, even though the tire on the left side was starting to overheat. It didn’t look good. He left black skid marks on the asphalt, and the top four closed in on each other again. Geiger hung onto Blin, who had regained his composure. Lehmann returned to his former form and battled it out with de Vleeschauwer.
By the third-to-last lap, it was clear: Geiger definitely hadn’t shown everything he had yet. By the penultimate lap, the tiny gap to the Polish driver was gone, and Geiger had meticulously set up his pass. Although Blin’s tires were worn out, it wasn’t over yet. He knew Geiger would close the inside line in the final turn, but he took a chance anyway. Blin picked up speed, carried it into the turn, and snatched the victory from right under Geiger’s nose by a hair’s breadth. Blin worked incredibly hard on his fitness over the winter and has the power needed for moves like that.
Geiger was caught a little off guard: “We struggled more than we expected, and I closed the door on Daniel too soon. He was smart, but that won’t happen again tomorrow.”
The race between Lennox Lehmann and Luca de Vleeschauwer was even closer. The Dresden native’s front tire was at its limit: “It was the same in 2024, but we managed to make it across the finish line.” His margin of victory over the Belgian at the finish line: 0.012 seconds.
EURO MOTO Supersport, Race 1:
1. Daniel BLIN (POL/Ducati)
2. Dirk GEIGER (GER/Yamaha)
3. Lennox LEHMANN (GER/Yamaha)
4. Luca DE VLEESCHAUWER (BEL/Yamaha)
5. Marvin SIEBDRATH (GER/Honda)
6. Marcel BRENNER (SUI/Ducati)
7. Julius AHRENKIEL-FRELLSEN (DEN/Honda)
8. Filip NOVOTNÝ (CZE/Ducati)
9. Filip FEIGL (CZE/Yamaha)
10.Freddie HEINRICH (GER/Kawasaki)
11.Lorenzo FELLON (FRA/Kawasaki)
12.Julius Caesar RÖRIG (GER/Honda)
13.Jorke ERWIG (GER/Ducati)
14. Jindrich ŠKOPEK (CZE/Yamaha)
15. Till BELCZYKOWSKI (GER/Kawasaki)
16. Marvin KREIMES (GER/Ducati)
17. Peter FEIGL (CZE/Yamaha)