Beating Lukas Tulovic remains a difficult task. The Ducati star also won the second EURO MOTO Superbike race at Oschersleben. Markus Reiterberger and Florian Alt rounded out the podium, representing BMW and Honda, respectively, and adding brand diversity to the awards ceremony.
With the exception of Twan Smits (Team Apreco-Yamaha), all the riders who had crashed in the first race were back on the grid. The teams’ pits had been a hive of activity as they rebuilt the completely wrecked motorcycles. “We finished up ten minutes before the race started. We bolted it together and headed out onto the track. The rear brake wasn’t working, but it didn’t matter. We couldn’t test anything anyway,” said Markus Reiterberger (Masteroil Alpha Van Zon BMW), still shaking his head in amazement at the masterful work his mechanics had accomplished in such a short time. Because his racing suit—and even his red underwear—had been completely torn apart in the crash, the four-time champion had also squeezed into a new leather suit that hadn’t been broken in yet. It was anything but comfortable.
Alt’s Honda CBR 1000 RR-R (Holzhauer Racing Promotion) received new parts. In the GERT56 pit, Toni Finsterbusch’s BMW was rebuilt, and Kevin Orgis (ORM Racing) even got a new suspension fork.
Six mechanics had been working on Twan Smits’s wrecked Yamaha, which caused the mass crash. Nevertheless, the second starting position remained empty. A medical examination of his hand prevented Smits from participating in the race. It is suspected that he has a fracture below the wrist, which could impair blood flow when under stress. Smits will undergo a thorough examination tomorrow in the Netherlands.
Tulovic (Triple M Racing Ducati Frankfurt) returned from the first lap of the race already leading by 0.8 seconds. Behind the Ducati rider were Florian Alt, former World Championship rider Marcel Schrötter, Markus Reiterberger, Kevin Orgis, Jan-Ole Jähnig, and Toni Finsterbusch. During the morning warm-up, Reiterberger had made adjustments to the BMW’s geometry in the hope that they would prove advantageous during the race. “Otherwise, we’ll be treading water.” The adjustments paid off. Reiterberger was in top form, first passing Schrötter and then, four laps later, Alt on the inside along a tight line at the white track marker. Now he was in second place. However, it had long been clear that Tulovic could no longer be caught on his own.
Jähnig overtook Kevin Orgis during the race. Lorenzo Zanetti, who had pulled far ahead, left his brother Leon behind. Toni Finsterbusch crashed. Alt secured third place behind Tulovic and Reiterberger with more consecutive 1:24-lap times than ever before. As a result, two riders who had been among those who crashed in the first race ended up on the podium. Reiterberger had also achieved his personal goal of “becoming the best BMW rider.”
There’s no question that defending champion Tulovic wants to win every race. Tulo has to do everything he can to make his dream of entering the Superbike World Championship come true. And despite the competition, he’s getting some help. After the first race, Flo Alt had fairly pointed out to his Sky co-host that smoke was coming from the back of the Ducati. At Triple M Racing Ducati Frankfurt, the engine was swapped out during the break between the two races, and they reverted to an engine from the start of the season.
EURO MOTO Superbike, Round 2
1. Lukas TULOVIC (GER/Ducati)
2. Markus REITERBERGER (GER/BMW)
3. Florian ALT (GER/Honda)
4. Marcel SCHRÖTTER (GER/BMW)
5. Jan-Ole JÄHNIG (GER/BMW)
6. Kevin ORGIS (GER/BMW)
7. Lorenzo ZANETTI (ITA/Ducati)
8. Leon ORGIS (GER/BMW)
9. Jan MOHR (AUT/BMW)
10. Christoph BEINLICH (GER/BMW)
11. Milan MERCKELBAGH (NED/BMW)
12. Marco FETZ (GER/BMW)