Oschersleben: Tulovic takes victory, Reiterberger and Alt on the podium after crash

The second race of the Euro Moto Superbike was already more than thrilling even before the race itself began. Who would manage to get their bike ready in time following the major crash in Race 1? Earlier that morning, Dutch rider Twan Smits’ Yamaha R1 had effectively exploded in the opening stages. Riding in his slipstream, Florian Alt (Honda) and Markus Reiterberger (BMW) didn’t stand a chance and were sent flying at full speed. After flying over the crash barrier, the motorbikes looked like a veritable heap of scrap. Before the trio had even come to a proper stop, Toni Finsterbusch and Kevin Orgis were also caught up in the incident. The marshals had to use heavy machinery to recover the motorbikes. It took some time for the remains of the motorbikes to be delivered to their respective pits, where the mechanics were already getting impatient. Nobody was injured in the unfortunate incident.

Lukas Tulovic had won the race on his Ducati but, due to the short distance, was awarded only half the points. For Race 2, everyone was back on the starting grid – except Twan Smits. His Yamaha had had enough for the weekend, and he himself was not quite fit after his crash, complaining of pain in his hand. On the surface, the motorbikes looked smart again. But it remained to be seen how far the Superbikes would manage over the 18-lap distance without a prior check.

All the repaired bikes held up

After the start, everyone got away smoothly. At the front, Tulovic didn’t waste any time, taking the lead and pulling away. Behind him, however, the action was a fair bit more intense. Alt squeezed past Schrötter and took the lead in the chasing pack. Shortly afterwards, Schrötter was also overtaken by Reiterberger, who was then 0.7 minutes behind Alt. Behind Schrötter, Kevin Orgis, Jan-Ole Jähnig, Finsterbusch, Leon Orgis and Lorenzo Zanetti lined up in 9th place.

Lukas Tulovic extended his lead at the front with the fastest lap of 1:24.178. The riders up to fifth place were posting lap times in the mid-1:24s. Reiterberger was also quick with a time of 1:24.2 and closed the gap on Honda rider Alt. On the seventh lap, Alt was then overtaken and slotted back in behind Reiterberger following his manoeuvre. The Ducati rider in first place probably couldn’t have cared less; he had built up a 2.5-second lead.

Marcel Schrötter and his GERT56 team-mate Jan-Ole Jähnig rode their race in close company in fourth and fifth places. Toni Finsterbusch was absent from lap 9 onwards; the BMW rider from near Leipzig had crashed but resumed the race after a break.

At the front, there were no further real close encounters. Reiterberger had put in a few fast laps, but Tulovic reacted immediately, stepping up the pace once more and extending his lead back to a comfortable three seconds. During his intermediate sprint, Reiterberger had left Alt two seconds behind, who in turn was three seconds ahead of Schrötter. The riders still had five laps to go.

After the shock moments of Race 1, the riders spared the nerves of their teams and the spectators in Race 2, finishing the race solidly. Lukas Tulovic secured his next victory, taking a clear step towards defending his title. He was joined on the podium by Markus Reiterberger and Florian Alt in second and third places respectively.