Marcel Schrötter has recovered from his knee injury better than initially expected. In Assen, he hoped to be in even better form than he was two weeks ago in Oschersleben—and indeed, the 33-year-old Bavarian showed himself to be in good shape at the TT Circuit Assen. The BMW rider from GERT56 by RS Speedbikes took home 33 points from the “Cathedral of Speed.” At the same time, he solidified his second-place position in the overall standings. Still, he would have liked the weekend to have gone differently.
Schrötter started from the front row, but after several temperature fluctuations during practice, he couldn’t get the feel for the tires he’d hoped for. It wasn’t until a few laps before the finish that the 33-year-old Bavarian managed to pick up the pace. For the BMW driver, it was a weekend where much more seemed possible.
“I’m not satisfied with how the races went, because, unexpectedly, I didn’t have the pace I needed, even though I was always competitive in practice,” Schrötter said, puzzled by how things turned out. “The two front-runners often had a small lead, but I never would have thought that, in fourth place, I wouldn’t be able to keep up with the leading group. It felt like I didn’t stand a chance. Yet the pace in the final stages wasn’t that bad either time.”
The expectation of being able to compete for the top spots on his own merits makes the disappointment understandable. “That was frustrating because I want to be right up front and compete for the top spots,” says Schrötter. At the same time, he understands the significance of the result for the championship: “Of course, I’m happy with second place in the second race, because the championship is already heading into the penultimate race weekend, where every point counts.”
There isn’t much time to dwell on it anyway. On the Thursday before the Nürburgring weekend in September, an additional test day is scheduled in the Eifel region. For Schrötter, this comes at just the right time. “From a racing perspective, I’m a little disappointed with our race pace at Assen. At the Nürburgring, we can try out a few different approaches so we can get back in the mix at the front. Because, as I said, I want to compete at the front on my own merits and achieve good results.”