Dirk Geiger claimed his fifth victory of the season in the EURO MOTO Supersport at the Nürburgring, further extending his lead in the overall standings. While there was no showdown with his title rival Daniel Blin, the race was certainly entertaining.
After the start, the order was quickly established: Dirk Geiger (Apreco-Yamaha), in his yellow outfit, was beaming ahead of his teammate Lennox Lehmann in pink, while Daniel Blin (Automarket AF Racing Team), in black and red, had settled into third place.
It was especially clear from Lehmann’s demeanor that he wanted to secure his first win of the season today. The Dresden native was eager to finally break his two-year winless streak. However, in Geiger, he faced the toughest opponent he could have imagined. By the tenth lap, it was clear that his plan wasn’t going to work out. Geiger widened the gap—which had shrunk considerably by then—to his two pursuers once again and shone with personal best times in the individual sectors.
Now Blin had to act if he wanted to keep his title hopes alive. He was able to pass Lehmann, but it was too late to catch Geiger. First, the Mannheim native had opened up a four-tenths-of-a-second lead once again in the final stages. Second, Blin ran into trouble with his Ducati coming out of the corners. Several slips in the last three laps didn’t exactly make the chase any easier.
That settled the order: Dirk Geiger won the first race at the Öhlins EURO MOTO event at the Nürburgring, ahead of Daniel Blin and Lennox Lehmann.
“At first, I didn’t really know what was going on,” Geiger explained. Still, the five-time winner this season didn’t sound entirely satisfied: “Today wasn’t quite my day. I made it closer at the end than it needed to be.” Lennox Lehmann remains in limbo. “The first half of the race was better,” said the 20-year-old, “I was too aggressive with the front end. It was my own mistake. And once again, I’m third.”
A few meters behind the top three, things got heated. Luca de Vleeschauwer (Team SWPN), Marvin Siebdrath (MCA Racing), and Luca Göttlicher (LJ Racing) battled for the positions just off the podium. Or rather: Yamaha versus Honda and MV Agusta. As has happened several times before, Göttlicher picked up the pace in the second half of the race. On lap 13, “Lucky Luc” led the trio and crossed the finish line in fourth place after 16 laps.
Meanwhile, Siebdrath kept the pressure on De Vleeschauwer, looking for an opening lap after lap. Three laps later, his patience was no longer needed: De Vleeschauwer crashed out of the race.
Things were also heating up further back in the field. Julius Caesar Rörig (MCA Racing) was locked in a battle with Marvin Kreimes (Team Kreimes Racing) and Jorke Erwig (Eder Racing). The three of them had provided plenty of action at the back of the field.
EURO MOTO Supersport, Race 1
1. Dirk GEIGER (GER/Yamaha)
2. Daniel BLIN (POL/Ducati)
3. Lennox LEHMANN (GER/Yamaha)
4. Luca GÖTTLICHER (GER/MV Agusta)
5. Marvin SIEBDRATH (GER/Honda)
6. Maximilian KOFLER (AUT/Ducati)
7. Freddie HEINRICH (GER/Kawasaki)
8. Filip FEIGL (CZE/Yamaha)
9. Max STAUFFER (AUS/Yamaha)
10. Julius AHRENKIEL-FRELLSEN (DNK/Honda)
11. Filip NOVOTNÝ (CZE/Ducati)
12. Julius Caesar RÖRIG (GER/Honda)
13. Marvin KREIMES (GER/Ducati)
14. Jorke ERWIG (GER/Ducati)
15. Luca DE VLEESCHAUWER (BEL/Yamaha)
16. Peter FEIGL (CZE/Yamaha)
17. Jindrich ŠKOPEK (CZE/Yamaha)