Assen: Smits takes the double, Schrötter P2, Reiterberger receives a penalty

To round off the Assen weekend, it was once again the turn of the Euro Moto Superbike riders. Twan Smits, who had won the first race on his Yamaha for Team Apreco, started from pole position once more. Joining him on the grid for the day’s second race were Lukas Tulovic from Team Triple M Ducati Frankfurt and Marcel Schrötter from Team GERT56.

When the lights went out, it was Twan Smits who shot off and took the lead. Reiterberger, who had overtaken Schrötter straight away at the start, soon pushed past Tulovic to move into second place. Florian Alt, who once again had to start from the fourth and therefore last row in the afternoon, fared much better in the second race. On the second lap, Alt pulled out of Schrötter’s slipstream and forced his way past with determination. Schrötter had to lift off slightly and dropped to fifth place. Shortly afterwards, Schrötter struck back and reclaimed fourth place from Alt.

Marcel Schrötter plötzlich Zweiter

Foto: Thorsten Horn

Smits and Reiterberger tried to break away at the front in a collective low-speed run. Seven tenths behind them, Tulovic was lapping reasonably comfortably in third place and didn’t need to be distracted from keeping a close eye on his rev counter by any wild manoeuvres. After all, the 15,600 rpm limit still applied.

Things were more entertaining for the spectators in the chasing pack, where Alt and Schrötter in particular were going head-to-head with some real motorcycling skill. From lap 7 onwards, Toni Finsterbusch also joined in the fray. Things went badly for Lorenzo Zanetti, who had to park his Ducati in the pits. Reiterberger kept the pressure on Smits, made a move on lap 8, but couldn’t get past. His only option was to take the emergency exit, which included the mandatory one-second delay to avoid a penalty from race control.

Lukas Tulovic rettet seine Ducati rüber

Foto: Thorsten Horn

Smits remained in the lead and Tulovic moved up. But Reiterberger didn’t let it faze him and, after a few corners, was back on the Yamaha’s tail. “Thanks a lot,” thought Tulovic, and by lap 11 he was right on the heels of the leading duo. Schrötter had broken away from the chasing pack and taken the lead. Reiterberger’s delay was not enough for the race directors, who handed him a long lap penalty. This threw the Bavarian off his stride. During the long lap, he rattled through the gravel trap, got thoroughly annoyed and rejoined the track in eighth place.

Twan Smits cruised to his second win of the day unchallenged. Second place went to an unexpected winner, Marcel Schrötter. Lukas Tulovic, who had originally finished second, ran into trouble with his Ducati, which dragged itself over the finish line with its last ounce of strength, allowing Schrötter to slip past. Reiterberger had managed to edge past Leon Orgis on the final lap to move up to seventh place.