Nürburgring: Dirk Geiger secures double victory without the icing on the cake of a 1.25-litre win

In both Supersport races at the penultimate Euro Moto weekend, the Yamaha rider from Team Apreco started from pole position and went on to score a further 25 points in each race, putting him in a comfortable position heading into the finale at the Hockenheimring. “Qualifying was a bit tricky for me,” he admitted, however, shortly before the start. “I had trouble getting everything to click. And generally keeping up the pace as well. So I’m expecting a bit more from myself in the race – I still need to break the 1.25 mark. As always, ‘all in’.”

In the first race, Geiger’s team-mate Lennox Lehmann and the Pole Daniel Blin – Geiger’s fiercest rival in the title race – had initially put him under a bit of pressure. But in the end, Geiger managed to finish just under two seconds ahead of Blin, securing the first victory of the weekend. Nevertheless, the winner did not hold back on self-criticism afterwards.

It was bound to happen.

Dirk Geiger

“I was a bit lost at the start,” said Geiger, describing his state of mind. “I didn’t really know what was going on or what I was doing there. From the middle of the race onwards, I snapped out of it and was able to ride a bit faster. Somehow, today just wasn’t my day. Better luck on Sunday – we’ll have a look at it now. Still, a huge thank you to my team – the bike was set up perfectly. I ended up making it a tighter race than it needed to be. But I managed it in the end, and congratulations to Daniel Blin – he really put the pressure on me.”

In the second race, Geiger let his performance do the talking right from the start and quickly pulled away. On the final lap, his team-mate Lennox Lehmann squeezed past Blin, netting Geiger four extra points on the tour in his title battle against Blin. The only fly in the ointment for Geiger was that the 1.25 target time didn’t materialise. “It should have happened,” he stated firmly, “coming so close twice is a real pain. But the team gave me the perfect bike. The race went flawlessly. I got off to a good start and was able to push hard in the first few laps.”

As well as the customary thanks to the team and Yamaha Germany, Dirk Geiger also sent his regards to his Superbike team-mate Twan Smits. “Now here’s wishing Twin all the best in his race and we’ll rock this thing.” Smits took the message to heart and, following Geiger’s Supersport one-two, did indeed cap off the weekend perfectly with his own Superbike one-two.