It’s done. Contrary to expectations, Lukas Tulovic defended his title in the Fuchs Silkolene EURO MOTO Superbike series on the Ducati Panigale V4R. The rider from Baden-Württemberg didn’t make it onto the podium in the first race of the grand finale at Hockenheim, finishing fifth instead. Others took home the trophies: Markus Reiterberger (BMW) won ahead of Marcel Schrötter (BMW) and Florian Alt (Honda).
Schrötter got off to a brilliant start and took the lead in the race. The rookie with World Championship experience from Team GERT56 was the only rival who could still have challenged Tulovic for the title. But he couldn’t do more than take the lead. Everything else depended on the Ducati with the number “1.” One thing was clear: if Tulo made it onto the podium starting from ninth on the grid, it would be a done deal and he’d be crowned champion early. Things turned out quite differently.
After two laps, Schrötter, Reiterberger, Jan-Ole Jähnig (BMW), Florian Alt, Toni Finsterbusch (BMW), Leon Orgis (BMW), and Tulovic had lined up one after another. Shortly thereafter, Alt broke away from the BMW trio and moved into third place. On his Honda Fireblade, he was even faster than he had been in practice. It was pretty clear that he wanted to send the red Honda with start number “66” into retirement with all the honors and a podium finish. A new model is coming out next year.
By that point, four riders were already out of the race. Kevin Orgis (BMW) and Hannes Soomer (BMW) had crashed in the early stages. Milan Merckelbagh (BMW) and Balint Kovács (Ducati) did not return from the subsequent laps. Tulovic, on the other hand, stayed in the race. And that was perhaps his most important achievement that afternoon.
Tulovic’s expected express run came to a halt. A small but strong field of top riders demonstrated the quality of the remaining competitors, who weren’t so easily defeated. And last but not least, the defending champion had his head in the numbers and had to manage the risk of potential conflicts.
At some point, he could no longer keep going on his own, but the crashes by Martin Vugrinec (BMW) and Toni Finsterbusch turned out to be an advantage after all. Finsterbusch had pushed too hard in his battle with Florian Alt and skidded off the track after losing control of his front wheel. He was able to continue, but didn’t rejoin the field until after Tulovic.
Fifth place was enough for the old and new champion to become the International German Superbike Champion for the second time. He hadn’t been eliminated. So the penultimate race of a crazy season decided the title. Schrötter can no longer catch him in the overall standings. After crossing the finish line, Tulovic couldn’t hold back his emotions. He couldn’t hold back the tears under his helmet. He said, “The feeling is simply indescribable.”
In the end, Schrötter was defeated by Reiterberger, who described the weekend as one of the best of the season. At first, he hadn’t believed he could get past Schrötter. “Marcel was strong. I thought I didn’t stand a chance against him. I’m sorry that my victory has now shut the door on Marcel as far as the title race is concerned, but we’re race car drivers and we want to win.”
