‘King of Imatra’: Germany’s Nico Müller narrowly misses out on a sensation

The final Superbike race at the Jarno Saarinen Circuit is the annual highlight of the ‘Imatranajo’ event. The Finn Erno Kostamo claimed victory with remarkable consistency, thereby crowning himself the ‘King of Imatra’. This year, the local hero – who had sustained serious injuries at the Tourist Trophy just a few weeks earlier – was present only as a spectator. He had to watch helplessly as he was, so to speak, ‘dethroned’.

By finishing third in qualifying, Nico Müller gained a great deal of confidence. In the first race on Saturday, however, the 34-year-old Saxon from Hohenstein-Ernstthal was hampered by a technical problem with his BMW and had to watch as the Finn Eemeli Lahti claimed victory.

The BMW rider was also dogged by bad luck in the European Series Road Racing rounds. Once again, the spectre of mechanical failure had struck mercilessly, forcing him to retire twice. The fault was found just in time for the final race of the day. Müller knew who was responsible: “Thanks to my lads Lui and Yam Falk, Matze, Papa Frieder Oertel, Swenni, Markus Karlsson, Pekka Oikkonen, Jens Schulze and Arno Derous – HOFFmann by MRP.”

A rain shower led to the race being halted after the first lap. After a short break, the race was able to go ahead after all, and Müller managed to hold his own amongst the local riders. At times, he was even clearly the fastest rider on the track and also set the fastest lap in the final lap, though he was unable to prevent Eemeli Lahti from taking the win. Finishing third, he only just missed out on causing a sensation.

Results, “King of Imatra”: 1. Eemeli Lahti (FIN), Aprilia, 8 laps in 15:58.411 mins. 2. Niko Lehtiranta (FIN), BMW, 4.610 sec behind. 3. Nico Müller (GER), BMW, +6.838 sec. 4. Ville Valtonen (FIN), Ducati. 5. Markus Karlsson (SWE), BMW. Fastest lap: Müller in 1:57.882 min.