Excitement in the EURO MOTO Supersport class. Saturday’s winner, Dirk Geiger, had to start from the pit lane in the second race at the Motopark Arena Oschersleben. His Apreco-Yamaha teammate, Lennox Lehmann, led the race for most of the time. However, Daniel Blin (Automarket AF Racing Team) took the win.
Geiger competed in Sunday’s race with his third engine of the season. Following his victory on Saturday, the championship leader had reported a slight loss of power and additional vibrations during the final laps of the race. The subsequent data analysis confirmed these anomalies but did not identify a clear cause. To find the fault, the sealed engine would have had to be opened. “Although we are confident that Dirk could have competed in the second race with his second engine as well, we don’t want to take any risks,” explained the Apreco Yamaha team management. “As a precaution, we decided to use the third engine.”
According to the rules, that meant starting from the pit lane. Geiger had to work his way up through the field from the back while hoping that his title rival, Daniel Blin, would drop points. Geiger had arrived in Oschersleben at the top of the standings and intended to stay there.
Blin led the pack after the start of the first lap. On the third lap, he had to give up the lead to Lehmann and, shortly thereafter, also let Luca de Vleeschauwer (Team SWPN)—who was in top form—pass him.
The Polish Ducati rider recovered, however, and battled it out with Lehmann right up to the finish. De Vleeschauwer was locked in a duel with Luca Göttlicher (LJ Racing/MC Augsburg). Yamaha versus MV Agusta. The Belgian crashed out of the race after a slight contact with Göttlicher’s rear wheel. This left Göttlicher on the F3 800 RR with clear air in front and behind, and Geiger inherited a spot as he made his way up through the field.
For Lehmann, his first victory in two years was within reach. Blin seemed to be running out of options to pass. But that’s exactly when it happened. In the final sector of the last lap, he made a surprising, uncompromising, and successful move on his Ducati Panigale V2. Blin won the race ahead of Lehmann by 0.034 seconds—that’s not even half a Ducati length.
Riding the Yamaha YZF-R9, Geiger fought his way up from the very back of the pack to fourth place over the course of the 15-lap race. Despite numerous passing moves, he had at times been faster than Lehmann at the front. What didn’t sit well with him: This result has once again turned the tide in the championship. The lead in the standings has returned to Daniel Blin. The 24-year-old Ducati rider now holds a one-point lead over Geiger.
Lehmann’s disappointment at the race’s outcome was written all over his face, and he complained about Blin’s aggressive maneuver during the pass. Luca Göttlicher was completely devastated. For the second time, he had handed the MV Agusta team—which could hardly believe it—a podium finish.
EURO MOTO Supersport, Race 2
1. Daniel BLIN (POL/Ducati)
2. Lennox LEHMANN (GER/Yamaha)
3. Luca GÖTTLICHER (GER/MV Agusta)
4. Dirk GEIGER (GER/Yamaha)
5. Marvin SIEBDRATH (GER/Honda)
6. Freddie HEINRICH (GER/Kawasaki)
7. Filip FEIGL (CZE/Yamaha)
8. Julius Caesar RÖRIG (GER/Honda)
9. Julius AHRENKIEL-FRELLSEN (DEN/Honda)
10.Marvin KREIMES (GER/Ducati)
11. Filip NOVOTNÝ (CZE/Ducati)
12. Jorke ERWIG (GER/Ducati)
13. Peter FEIGL (CZE/Yamaha)
14. Jindrich ŠKOPEK (CZE/Yamaha)