Oschersleben: Supersport victories for Geiger and Blin – change at the top

With a flawless victory in Saturday’s race, Dirk Geiger extended his lead in the Euro Moto Supersport championship at Oschersleben. As his team-mate Lennox Lehmann finished second, the celebrations at Apreco-Yamaha knew no bounds. Daniel Blin (Automarket AF Racing Team) was the unlucky one. He fell victim to technical issues.

With a two-point lead over Daniel Blin in the overall standings, Dirk Geiger set out to tackle the first Supersport race of the weekend. When Blin suddenly lost over half a second to Geiger on the third lap, the outcome of the race had already been decided. Whilst the 24-year-old Pole on the Ducati was struggling with the quickshifter, Geiger set off on a solo run at the front, clocking the fastest lap of 1:26.857 minutes on the Magdeburger Börde circuit. “Right at the start, I could still hear Daniel’s bike, then it went quiet,” said Geiger.

Lennox Lehmann weathered a few violent wobbles over the high edges of the kerbs and managed to get into Blin’s slipstream. But the Ducati rider wasn’t about to give up second place willingly. Blin and Lehmann were riding slightly out of sync, but the Saxon rider couldn’t find a way past for a long time. Once the overtaking manoeuvre was successful, Blin only had the chance to counter-attack on the back straight, but by that point Lehmann was too far ahead of him. Blin got off lightly, finishing in third place. “We’ll be analysing the technical issue later today,” he assured.

Lehmann seemed rather shaken after the race. Although it was only the little finger on his right hand, the fracture was causing him a great deal of trouble. He had surgery three weeks ago: “I didn’t expect it to hurt this much now. The braking manoeuvres were a disaster.” But in the end, the effort paid off.

Luca de Vleeschauwer (Team SWPN) and Luca Göttlicher (LJ Racing/MC Augsburg) were locked in a duel of their own throughout the 15 laps. Even halfway through the race, there was no sign of a winner emerging. At times, Göttlicher was riding almost as fast as the leaders. De Vleeschauwer overbraked on a few occasions, but the battle for position ultimately ended in the Belgian’s favour. Marvin Siebdrath (MCA Racing) was the first of three Hondas in the field to cross the line.

Euro Moto Supersport, Race 1

1. Dirk GEIGER (D/Yamaha)

2. Lennox LEHMANN (D/Yamaha)

3. Daniel BLIN (PL/Ducati)

4. Luca DE VLEESCHAUWER (B/Yamaha)

5. Luca GÖTTLICHER (Germany/MV Agusta)

6. Marvin SIEBDRATH (Germany/Honda)

7. Freddie HEINRICH (Germany/Kawasaki)

8. Filip FEIGL (CZ/Yamaha)

9. Julius AHRENKIEL-FRELLSEN (DK/Honda)

10. Filip NOVOTNÝ (CZ/Ducati)

11. Julius Caesar RÖRIG (Germany/Honda)

12. Marvin KREIMES (Germany/Ducati)

13. Peter FEIGL (CZ/Yamaha)

14. Jindrich ŠKOPEK (CZ/Yamaha)

Supersport Race 2: Blin wins

Excitement on Sunday. Saturday’s winner, Dirk Geiger, had to start from the pit lane in the second race at Oschersleben. His Apreco-Yamaha team-mate Lennox Lehmann led the race for most of the time. However, it was Daniel Blin (Automarket AF Racing Team) who took the win.

Geiger contested Sunday’s race with his third engine of the season. Following his victory on Saturday, the championship leader had reported a slight loss of power and additional vibrations during the final laps of the race. Subsequent data analysis confirmed the anomalies but did not identify a clear cause. To find the fault, the sealed engine would have had to be opened. As a precaution, the R9’s engine was replaced. According to the regulations, this meant starting from the pit lane.

Blin led the field after the start. On the third lap, he had to concede the lead to Lehmann and, shortly afterwards, also let Luca de Vleeschauwer (Team SWPN), who was in top form, pass him. However, the Polish Ducati rider recovered and battled it out with Lehmann right until the end. De Vleeschauwer was locked in a duel with Luca Göttlicher (LJ Racing/MC Augsburg). Yamaha versus MV Agusta. The Belgian crashed following a slight contact with Göttlicher’s rear wheel. This left Göttlicher, on the F3 800 RR, with space at both ends of the field, whilst Geiger gained a place during his chase.

For Lehmann, his first victory in two years was within reach. Blin seemed to be running out of options to overtake. But that was precisely when it happened. In the final sector of the last lap, he struck with his Ducati Panigale V2 – unexpectedly, decisively and successfully. Blin won the race ahead of Lehmann by 0.034 seconds.

Geiger, on his Yamaha YZF-R9, had fought his way up from the very back to fourth place over the course of the 15-lap race. Despite numerous overtaking manoeuvres, he had at times been faster than Lehmann at the front. What didn’t sit well with him was that this result has once again turned the tide in the championship. The lead in the standings has returned to Daniel Blin. The 24-year-old Ducati rider is one point ahead of Geiger.

Lehmann’s disappointment at the outcome of the race was plain to see, and he complained about Blin’s aggressive overtaking manoeuvres. Luca Göttlicher was completely devastated. For the second time, he had gifted the MV Agusta team – who could scarcely believe it – a podium finish.

Euro Moto Supersport, Race 2

1. Daniel BLIN (PL/Ducati)

2. Lennox LEHMANN (D/Yamaha)

3. Luca GÖTTLICHER (D/MV Agusta)

4. Dirk GEIGER (D/Yamaha)

5. Marvin SIEBDRATH (Germany/Honda)

6. Freddie HEINRICH (Germany/Kawasaki)

7. Filip FEIGL (CZ/Yamaha)

8. Julius Caesar RÖRIG (Germany/Honda)

9. Julius AHRENKIEL-FRELLSEN (DK/Honda)

10. Marvin KREIMES (Germany/Ducati)

11. Filip NOVOTNÝ (CZ/Ducati)

12. Jorke ERWIG (Germany/Ducati)

13. Peter FEIGL (CZ/Yamaha)

14. Jindrich ŠKOPEK (CZ/Yamaha)