Lennox Lehmann (Yamaha): No team orders for the Euro Moto finale at Hockenheim

The Euro Moto Supersport class was once again dominated by Dirk Geiger, Daniel Blin and Lennox Lehmann at the Nürburgring. Once again, they swept all the podium places in both races. The only change was that all three had each missed out on an SSP podium once this year. Dirk Geiger, who is in brilliant form, was once again in a league of his own, whilst Blin and Lehmann battled it out behind him. In the first race, Lehmann held second place for a long time, but then had to concede defeat to Blin by a relatively clear margin. In the second race, the Saxon kept the Pole at bay right until the end.

“The first race didn’t quite go to my liking; I had a few problems with the front wheel towards the end. Otherwise, though, I’m quite happy with the weekend,” was his brief summary afterwards. The 20-year-old from Dresden elaborated in more detail: “We had the official test day on Thursday before the actual race weekend. That gave us the chance to try out quite a lot and gather data – things you don’t have time for during the race weekend. We were heading in the right direction. But we also made a few more changes over the weekend. So the problem we had on Saturday was sorted by Sunday, but another issue cropped up instead. Overall, though, I’m satisfied. Third place in the championship is secure. When you consider where I was racing last year, it’s nice to already have that certainty with one race weekend to go. On the flip side, that means you set even higher standards for yourself.”

Taking Dirk off the track is, of course, a no-go. The same applies the other way round.

Lennox LEHMANN

That naturally raises the question of his plan for the final race at Hockenheim, as he has nothing left to lose and could therefore go all out on the attack. On the other hand, his team-mate Dirk Geiger is fighting for the title. Given Geiger’s 27-point lead over Blin, he normally doesn’t need any help, but he certainly doesn’t need a troublemaker either. “We have no team orders whatsoever that I have to help Dirk, but he doesn’t need that anyway. He can manage that himself without any problems. I might be allowed to go for the win if necessary, but holding Dirk back is, of course, a no-go. The same applies the other way round.”

Nevertheless, not least because of his ‘… higher aspirations …’, he is eyeing his first win of the season – which would also be his first since Assen 2024. He picks up on this point once more. “I reckon Dirk will have the title wrapped up by Saturday. That’s why I’m not under any pressure. Even if I were to win on Saturday and Dirk came second, he’d still be through.” Be that as it may, he has no interest in a victory on Sunday that’s handed to him by the 24-year-old from Mannheim. “I don’t want that at all. If I’m going to win, I want to have earned it myself, so that the victory really means something to me.”

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First the EWC final, then Hockenheim

Now this is no longer just a theoretical possibility, as the facts – Dirk Geiger’s six wins this season – speak for themselves. Both riders are on the same motorbike in the same team. So what’s still missing to beat Dirk? Adapting the set-up, but that isn’t straightforward. “We’re different heights and so have different weight distributions. On top of that, we have quite different riding styles. Ultimately, when it comes to set-up, everyone has to find their own way. It definitely helps to have Dirk in the team so we can look at the data. But it’s also fair to say that Dirk is doing everything perfectly at the moment and everything is running like clockwork for him. When you’re going from victory to victory, you can approach a race weekend in a completely different way. You simply have that little bit of extra confidence, which is enough to shave two or three tenths off your lap time.”

A week before the Euro Moto finale from 25 to 27 September at Hockenheim, Lennox Lehmann still has the Bol d’Or – the 24-hour race at the Circuit Paul Ricard in Le Castellet – on his schedule as the season finale of the EWC Endurance World Championship. His number one goal and wish is to stay injury-free.