SPB: Rosenthaler Brakes Hard to Claim Victory

Jakob Rosenthaler (RT Motorsports Racing) won the first race of the EURO MOTO Sportbike series at the Automotodrom Brno. After an intense nine-lap sprint, the Austrian prevailed on Saturday afternoon in a thrilling three-way battle against Ruben Bijman (Freudenberg RORA-PALIGO Racing) and Tobias Kitzbichler (ViVa by Peuker & Streeb), celebrating his first victory of the season.

Right after the start, a high-level battle broke out at the front. Pole-sitter Tobias Kitzbichler was in the mix from the very beginning, while Jakob Rosenthaler and Ruben Bijman didn’t give up an inch without a fight. The trio set the pace and quickly pulled away from the rest of the field.

A breakthrough for Rosenthaler

Positions changed hands several times until the midpoint of the race. Rosenthaler, in particular, impressed in the tough braking zones of the 5.4-kilometer Grand Prix circuit. Time and again, the Triumph rider was able to make up crucial ground there and put pressure on his rivals. In the final third of the race, he finally managed to take control and lay the groundwork for his victory.

For Rosenthaler, the victory was also a huge relief. Although he had crossed the finish line first at the season opener at the Sachsenring, he was subsequently demoted three positions due to a penalty. This made his relief on the podium all the greater.

“It’s a really great feeling to finally stand on the podium as the winner. After Sachsenring, it was obviously a bitter disappointment. I had a few problems during the race today as well, and it wasn’t easy to keep everything under control. That makes me all the happier that it worked out this time,” said the 20-year-old after his victory.

Behind the winner, a dramatic battle for second place unfolded. Bijman and Kitzbichler were locked in a neck-and-neck duel right up to the finish line. In the end, just 0.027 seconds separated the two. Bijman held on to second place at the finish and rounded out the team’s one-two finish. “That was a really tough race today. I made a few mistakes that cost me time. My plan actually worked perfectly until Tobias overtook me again on the last lap. Luckily, I had a bit more momentum in the final turn and was able to counter. The fact that it was only 27 thousandths in the end shows just how close it was,” explained the Dutchman.

Tobias Kitzbichler also had reason to be satisfied with his weekend so far. The 17-year-old Austrian had already demonstrated his strong form in practice and qualifying and started the race from pole position. However, the Aprilia rider struggled with problems throughout the race. “That was tough. The front wheel kept wanting to tuck in relatively early on. I had almost no feel for the front and had to ride at the limit constantly,” Kitzbichler reported. Nevertheless, he kept pace with the leaders and even set a personal best in the final laps. In the end, he was just a few centimeters short of second place.

Zuda wins the battle for second place ahead of Tureček and Siebdrath

Behind the leading trio, another thrilling battle for fourth place unfolded. Stepan Zuda (Freudenberg RORA-PALIGO Racing), guest driver Daniel Tureček (Rohac & Fejta Motoracing Team powered by Eder Racing), and Mika Siebdrath (Freudenberg RORA-PALIGO Racing) formed their own chasing pack for much of the race. At times, they were able to close the gap to the leaders, but they repeatedly had to let the top three pull away.

In the end, Zuda prevailed and led the group across the finish line in fourth place. Just 1.3 seconds behind him, local hero Daniel Tureček finished in fifth place. For the Czech driver, who had spoken of a dream come true ahead of the weekend, it was a strong result in front of his home crowd. Mika Siebdrath rounded out the group in sixth place.

There was already a significant gap behind them. Kiyano Veijer (Dutch Talent Racing) finished seventh, more than six seconds behind Siebdrath, ahead of Tom Kuil (RT Motorsports Racing) and Julian van Kalkeren (SRTD Pearle Gebben Racing). Micky Winkler (WSC-Racing Team) rounded out the top 10, achieving his best result to date in the EURO MOTO Sportbike class.

The only rider to drop out was Maksymilian Palmowski (SP Race Project). The Polish rider crashed early in the race and was the only rider not to finish.

The action continues as early as Sunday. At 12:20 p.m., the EURO MOTO Sportbike will kick off its second race of the weekend. As usual, the race will be streamed live and free of charge at euromoto.racing/live.

EURO MOTO Sportbike, Race 1