Twan Smits was unbeatable once again in the second EURO MOTO Superbike race at Assen. The Yamaha rider celebrated his second victory of the weekend on his home track. Marcel Schrötter finished second, and Lukas Tulovic rounded out the podium. For Markus Reiterberger, however, his hopes of victory were dashed in the gravel trap.
After qualifying, Schrötter had been considered a contender for the podium. However, the GERT56 driver was not satisfied with the outcome of the first race at the TT Circuit. Second place in the second race was therefore a step forward—but Schrötter still wasn’t entirely happy with it.
Let’s take it step by step. Smits quickly took the lead after the start. Florian Alt charged energetically from tenth position up to fourth place. In doing so, he squeezed past Schrötter on the inside along the innermost line.
In Round 2, the entire quartet of motorcycle manufacturers from the EURO MOTO Superbike series occupied the top four spots: Twan Smits on a Yamaha ahead of Markus Reiterberger on a BMW, Lukas Tulovic on a Ducati, and Florian Alt on a Honda.
On the eighth lap, Schrötter snatched fourth place from his Honda rival Alt. Jan-Ole Jähnig had a front-row seat right behind them to watch the battle between the two.
Meanwhile, events were unfolding rapidly at the front of the pack. Reiterberger was right on Smits’s tail, looking for an opening to attack. In the process, the four-time champion veered off the ideal line, rattled through the emergency exit, and returned to the track without observing the required delay. The result: a long-lap penalty. It completely threw Reiti off his game. He drove into the gravel trap. Although the Bavarian was able to rejoin the field, his hopes for victory vanished like a soap bubble.
The breakaway split up the leading group. Smits won the race in commanding fashion, finishing 5.701 seconds ahead. In the final stretch, Marcel Schrötter overtook Lukas Tulovic, who experienced a technical issue with his Panigale V4R. Florian Alt led the group of three behind them, along with Toni Finsterbusch and Jan-Ole Jähnig.
Double winner Twan Smits was on cloud nine. Schrötter was happy with second place, but would have preferred to earn it in a head-to-head battle: “I finished second, but it didn’t have to be this way. Still, of course, I’ll take it.”
At Assen, Tulovic kept his distance whenever there was contact outside the Ducati pit. In the championship, however, the defending champion remains the man to beat. With a 46.5-point lead over Schrötter, he continues to hold a commanding lead in the overall standings.
EURO MOTO Superbike, Round 2
1. Twan SMITS (NED/Yamaha)
2. Marcel SCHRÖTTER (GER/BMW)
3. Lukas TULOVIC (GER/Ducati)
4. Florian ALT (GER/Honda)
5. Toni FINSTERBUSCH (GER/BMW)
6. Jan-Ole JÄHNIG (GER/BMW)
7. Markus REITERBERGER (GER/BMW)
8. Leon ORGIS (GER/BMW)
9. Jan MOHR (AUT/BMW)
10. Kevin ORGIS (GER/BMW)
11. Milan MERCKELBAGH (NED/BMW)
