SPB: Double Victory for Zuda, ERC on the Rise

What a finish in the second race of the EURO MOTO Sportbike series at Oschersleben. Following his victory on Saturday, Stepan Zuda (Freudenberg RoRa-Paligo Racing) struck again on Sunday. This time, however, the Czech rider had to fight much harder for the win. Sasha de Vits rode the ERC Team’s Kawasaki to the front and engaged in a thrilling battle with Zuda for the win in the final laps. In the end, just 0.153 seconds separated the two. Tobias Kitzbichler (ViVa by Peuker & Streeb) rounded out the podium.

Starting from pole position, Zuda once again got off to a strong start and held onto the lead ahead of Kitzbichler and de Vits. Jakob Rosenthaler (RT Motorsports) also made up ground right after the start, just as he had on Saturday. Starting from tenth position, the Austrian moved up to sixth place as early as the first lap.

At the front, Zuda, Kitzbichler, and de Vits pushed the pace right from the start. The lap times were even faster than in Saturday’s first race. As early as lap six, de Vits put pressure on Kitzbichler for the first time and moved up to second place. Two laps later, Zuda was finally overtaken: The Belgian passed the championship leader and took the lead.

Triumph Defeats Kawasaki in the Showdown

With that, the stage was set for the final laps. De Vits was in the lead ahead of Zuda and Kitzbichler, but the Czech rider didn't let up. Instead of launching a hasty attack, he kept a close eye on his rivals and waited for his chance.

“The race was even tougher than yesterday. The level of competition was even higher—I hadn’t expected that. I kept an eye on Sasha ahead of me and waited for my chance, because I knew I could still push a little harder in the final laps,” Zuda explained.

In lap eleven, the moment had arrived. Zuda seized the opportunity, passed de Vits again, and took the lead. The ERC driver immediately latched onto the Czech rider’s rear wheel and stayed right on his tail until the finish line. However, he was unable to find one last opening.

After 13 laps, Zuda held on to a razor-thin lead of 0.153 seconds as he crossed the finish line, sealing a one-two finish at Oschersleben. “It worked out, and I’m very satisfied,” the Czech driver said, summing up his race. With this win, he extends his lead in the championship to a total of 154 points.

Although De Vits was defeated by the narrowest of margins, he was able to demonstrate the potential of the revamped Kawasaki after his technical issue and 21st-place finish in the first race. With a time of 1:30.475 minutes, the Belgian even set the fastest lap of the race. “The team did an incredible job making sure we’re competitive here,” de Vits said, praising his crew. Following teammate Jules Bercot’s third-place finish on Saturday, an ERC Kawasaki was once again on the podium in the second race.

Kitzbichler was unable to quite keep up with the pace of the two leaders in the final laps and crossed the finish line in third place, 1.585 seconds behind Zuda. After finishing second on Saturday, the Austrian thus takes home two podium finishes from Oschersleben. “The lap times were very fast today, which is why I made a lot of small mistakes that cost me time. But I’m very happy with the podium finishes and the weekend overall,” Kitzbichler summed up.

Rosenthaler Earns Important Points

After his injury-related break in Most, Jakob Rosenthaler made the best of a difficult weekend. Following a strong start, he settled into fourth place as the race progressed and held on to that position until the finish. With two solid results—fifth and fourth place—the Austrian earned important points that could still play a role in the ongoing battle for the championship.

Behind Rosenthaler, the race was once again incredibly close. Ruben Bijman (Freudenberg RoRa-Paligo Racing) finished fifth, just 0.098 seconds behind. His teammate Mika Siebdrath took sixth place. Tom Kuil (RT Motosports) crossed the finish line in seventh place, but received a three-second time penalty at the end of the race for repeatedly crossing the track limits in the chicane. The penalty did not affect his position.

After finishing on the podium on Saturday, Jules Bercot placed eighth, followed by Kiyano Veijer (Dutch Talent Racing) in ninth place.

Felix Kauertz (ERC) also posted another strong first lap in his second race in the EURO MOTO. Starting from 20th on the grid, the German fought his way straight up to 11th place. As the race progressed, he even moved up to ninth at one point and ultimately finished his debut weekend in tenth place.

Micky Winkler (WSC-Racing), on the other hand, had some bad luck. The Schleiz native didn’t even make it to the starting grid. Just ten minutes before the race, the fuel pump failed while he was warming up his motorcycle. That ended his race before it had even begun. For Winkler, it was a bitter end to a difficult weekend, after he had already been unable to show his full potential in the first race.

EURO MOTO Sportbike, Race 2