Hockenheim Superpole 1: Soomer, Orgis and Kovács through to the next round

Nine drivers gathered at the Hockenheimring for Superpole 1. Only the three fastest would have the chance to qualify for Superpole 2 and, with it, a starting position in the first three rows. Milan Merckelbagh, Hannes Soomer, Lorenzo Zanetti, Leon Orgis, Kevin Orgis, Martin Vugrinec, Jan Mohr, Marco Fetz and Bálint Kovács threw themselves into the 15-minute fray of Superpole 1.

Leon Orgis had crashed heavily yesterday, leaving his mechanics with a mountain of work in the pits. But the lads had worked their socks off and got Orgis’s bike back up and running in time for Saturday.

Zanetti clocked a time of 1:25.330 on his first timed lap in his Triple M Ducati and briefly took the lead. But shortly afterwards, Soomer was already challenging him for top spot. The Estonian couldn’t enjoy that for long, because shortly afterwards, also on his second timed lap, Leon Orgis was on the scene, impressing with a time of 1:24.971. Right behind the pair, the next Orgis – Kevin – was already closing in.

A battle right down to the last metre

Shortly before the halfway mark, Vugrinec was also in the mix in his BCC BMW and moved up to second place. However, even the Croatian couldn’t challenge Leon Orgis’s fastest time. The drivers had just under seven minutes left to come up with a suitable response to the top three. One or two of them made a final, quick pit stop to prepare for the last few minutes of practice.

Leon Orgis and Martin Vugrinec watched the remainder of the practice session from the pits and saw how Jan Mohr, in his BMW, with a time of 1.25,148 minutes, catapulting himself from last to second place and thereby knocking his team-mate Hannes Soomer out of the top three. But the Estonian didn’t hold back, responding with a time of 1:24.864 minutes to take the lead. Leon Orgis consequently slipped to second place, and on his final lap before the chequered flag, guest rider Kovács secured third place. Mohr had to settle for fourth.