Double victory for Cerveny, 3rd place once for Johnson (Team Schleizer Dreieck)

Marek Cerveny showed at the Circuit de Chimay that his third place in the second race at the season opener of the Supersport class of the International Road Racing Championship (IRRC) in Hengelo was just a one-off slip-up. The Triumph rider left Gary Johnson (Suzuki) more than a second behind in practice. Mauro Poncini put his Yamaha in third place on the grid, with Petr Najman (Triumph), Ilja Caljouw (Yamaha) and Matej Vit (Triumph) forming the second row.

Cerveny shook his opponents out of his slipstream as early as the lap. While he steadily increased his lead to over four seconds, Johnson, who held second place from lap 3 to 6, and Najman were so involved in a duel that they were overtaken by Caljouw and Poncini in the final lap. Najman was able to defend his second position, while Johnson was knocked off the podium by Caljouw on the final lap.

The race went less well for the German-speaking riders. Rico Vetter (Kawasaki), who only finished the first lap in 14th place, was at least able to improve to 10th place. Moritz Klaus crossed the finish line in eleventh place on his Honda. Sebastian Frotzscher (Yamaha) had to settle for 17th place behind Jonas Stracke (Yamaha) and Robert Rohde (Honda) after he had to take the emergency exit twice in the chicane and lost a lot of time in the process.

Rico Vetter wird bei der IRRC Supersport in Chimay zweimal bester Deutscher

Foto: Thomas Neidhardt

Gary Johnson gives Team Schleizer Dreieck its first podium in 2026

In the second race, Cerveny from Team WRP Wepol Racing also showed who is the master of the house. Once again, he stormed away from his opponents from the start. Only after six of nine laps was he content with his lead and limited himself to managing it. At the finish, the six-time IRRC Supersport overall winner had a lead of almost three seconds over the runner-up. With his third victory in the fourth race, he is already 16 points ahead of his closest rival in the intermediate standings.

In the battle for second place, the spectators were treated to a lot. Five drivers could not agree on which of them should join Cerveny on the podium. Johnson (Team Schleizer Dreieck) held second position for a long time, but in the end he was narrowly beaten by Caljouw (Performance Racing Achterhoek). Vit (TME Racing), Poncini (Performance Racing Achterhoek) and Najman (Festa tools by Najmanmotorsport) crossed the finish line just behind.

Kawasaki rider Vetter (Vetter Racing Performance by SIEVI) successfully defended his eighth place in the championship with ninth place. His German compatriot Frotscher from Team Schleizer Dreieck saw the chequered flag in 13th place. While Klaus (MK Racing) did not compete in the second race, Jonas Stracke (Hepelmann Motorsport) finished the second race in 15th place ahead of guest driver Rohde from Rossdörfer Racing Team.