Euro Moto Most: Tulovic survives the Most heat with a one-two finish and injuries

The start of the second Euro Moto Superbike race was delayed by a few minutes because one of the marshals fell victim to the intense heat and had to receive medical attention. After all, the thermometer had climbed above 40 degrees, and the tarmac was quietly sizzling away at almost 70 degrees. The 16 riders waited patiently, making the most of their final few minutes in front of the fan. Patrick Hobelsberger, 17th on the starting grid, had been forced to withdraw early for the four-week break following a disappointing practice session.

Just as he had done that morning, Marcel Schrötter rolled up to his starting position at the last minute and, after a brief standstill, the race got underway straight away. Sixteen laps were on the schedule. After the start, Marcel Schrötter and Hannes Soomer had to take the emergency exit at the chicane. Schrötter had got into a tussle with Lukas Tulovic and come off worse, and Soomer had to follow him through, as otherwise there would have been a crash.

Florian Alt didn’t waste a moment

After Tulovic had led for the first few kilometres, Alt overtook him on the start-finish straight and took the lead. Twan Smits settled into third place. A second behind, the chasing pack – comprising Kevin Orgis, Marcel Schrötter and Markus Reiterberger – closed in. On lap 5, traffic built up in the chicane’s emergency exit. Reiterberger was hit hardest, dropping to ninth place, just behind his team-mate Hannes Soomer.

At the halfway stage, Alt was still defending his lead and had managed to pull a few metres clear of his Ducati pursuer. Behind them, Smits, Schrötter and Kevin Orgis were battling it out. Leon Orgis rolled into the pits on lap 8 with a technical problem. Tulovic, however, didn’t let up and increased the pressure. Smits, in third place, was left with nothing to do but watch. On lap 9, Tulovic didn’t hesitate and slipped past Alt on the inside line. It was the second retirement of the day for the Hungarian Soma Görbe. He had retired from Race 1 due to a fault with the fuel line, and in Race 2 he crashed.

Auch an Alts Gashand flogen die Fetzen

Foto: Thorsten Horn

Soomer and Orgis seemed largely unfazed by the heat, as they seized every opportunity to make life difficult for one another. Markus Reiterberger also had a tough time, struggling in ninth place to hold on to his one-second lead over Ducati rider Lorenzo Zanetti.

Tulovic wins with a singed calf

Meanwhile, Lukas Tulovic had pulled away and was well on his way to a one-two finish. Alt and Smits were heading for the finish line in second and third places, a respectable distance behind. Milan Merckelbagh, Marcel Schrötter and Twan Smits had come under scrutiny from race control for taking the emergency exit at the first chicane.

There were no suspicions regarding Tulovic and Alt, who crossed the finish line in first and second places, separated by 0.940 seconds. Twan Smits was initially listed in third place, even though race control had not yet given the go-ahead. To the Dutchman’s relief, this came shortly afterwards and he was allowed to collect his trophy.

Lukas Tulovic was in no mood to smile on the podium. The engine block of his Ducati and his calf had had a rather violent encounter, so the full extent of the heat was only likely to become apparent once he’d taken off his leather suit.