SPB: Zuda on Pole, Kawasaki on the Front Row

After a four-week summer break, the EURO MOTO Sportbike is back, and Saturday morning in Oschersleben presented the riders with their first challenge right away. Rain had left the 3.667-kilometer track at the Motorsport Arena wet, creating difficult conditions during the first qualifying session. Only nine riders ventured onto the track at all, and five of them crashed.

Max Stauffer (Apreco-Yamaha), Jakob Rosenthaler (RT Motorsports), Sasha de Vits (ERC), Julian van Kalkeren (SRTD Pearle Gebben), and Felix Kauertz (ERC) all lost control on the slippery asphalt. Fortunately, all five emerged unharmed. As a result, the first qualifying session had little bearing on the eventual starting grid.

By the second qualifying session, the situation had changed once again. The track had dried out, but temperatures were significantly lower than during Friday’s practice. These were not easy conditions for the sportbike riders, who already have to contend with low grip levels at Oschersleben. For nearly the entire field, this meant one thing: go all out for Q2.

Stepan Zuda (Freudenberg RoRa Paligo Racing) did the best job of it. The Czech driver took the lead with a time of 1:31.436 minutes, securing pole position for the first race on Saturday afternoon.

Right behind him, Tobias Kitzbichler (ViVa by Peuker & Streeb) made his intentions clear. The Austrian completed the lap in 1:31.713 minutes, missing pole position by just 0.277 seconds.

Sasha de Vits provided a little surprise on the front row of the grid. As early as Friday’s practice sessions, it had become apparent that the ERC Team’s intensive development work on the Kawasaki was paying off. In qualifying, the Belgian confirmed this impression. Despite his crash that morning, he improved his time to 1:31.807 in Q2 and secured third place on the grid. He was just 0.371 seconds off the top spot. This marks the first time this season that an ERC Team Kawasaki has secured a spot on the front row. After the long break since the Sachsenring and the intensive work on setup and mapping, the team has made a strong statement in qualifying as well.

Mika Siebdrath (Freudenberg RoRa Paligo Racing) is launching his attack from the second row. The German qualified in fourth place with a time of 1:32.227 minutes. Behind him are Tom Kuil (RT Motosports) and Ruben Bijman (Freudenberg RoRa Paligo Racing), separated by just two thousandths of a second. Kuil edged out the Dutch rider by a hair with a time of 1:32.476 minutes.

Rounding out the top ten are Kiyano Veijer (Dutch Racing) in seventh place, Jules Bercot on the second ERC Kawasaki in eighth, and Micky Winkler (WSC-Racing) in ninth. For championship contender Jakob Rosenthaler (RT Motosports), however, the morning proved more challenging. After crashing in the wet first qualifying session, the Austrian posted a time of 1:32.927 in Q2 and will start from tenth position in Most on his comeback following an injury-related break.

Qualifying did not go as well for ERC newcomer Felix Kauertz. After his crash that morning, the 24-year-old also had to put everything on the line in the second qualifying session. However, with a time of 1:43.998, he failed to meet the 110 percent qualifying time and was initially not classified for the race.

The riders won't have much time to catch their breath. The first points up for grabs after the summer break are already on the line this afternoon. The first EURO MOTO Sportbike race gets underway at 4:20 p.m. in Oschersleben. Spectators can watch the race via the YouTube livestream.

EURO MOTO Sportbike, Qualifying