ESR, Imatra: Guest riders dominate, Matthys leaves Hoffmann behind

After the first of ten laps, Niko Lehtiranta began to harbour a faint hope that he might, after all, give his Finnish compatriot and pole-sitter Eemeli Lahti a run for his money on the 4.95-kilometre Jarno Saarinen Circuit in Imatra during the first race of the European Series Road Racing (ESR), but from lap 2 onwards the favourite took control.

With one fastest lap after another, Lahti quickly pulled away from his pursuer. On the seventh lap, he broke the 1:50 mark for the first time, and on the following lap he set the fastest lap of the entire weekend so far with a time of 1:49.508. With a lead of just over ten seconds, the Aprilia rider secured a commanding victory.

Auch auf einer geborgten Maschine ist Lukas Maurer flott unterwegs

Foto: Thomas Neidhardt

Behind the Finnish home heroes Lahti and Lehtiranta, third place went to the Swiss rider Lukas Maurer on a borrowed bike, who in turn managed to keep two further Finns – Kenny Koskinen and Ville Valtonen – at bay.

For a long time, it looked as though Laurent Hoffmann – following his performances at Hengelo and Horice – might once again get the better of Fedrik Matthys in the battle for supremacy in the internal ESR standings (guest riders are not eligible for points). For eight laps he was ahead of his Belgian compatriot and team-mate, but at the finish line Matthys had just the edge.

As Hoffmann failed to score any points at the second ESR race weekend, the North West 200, Matthys heads into tomorrow’s second race on Finnish soil with a comfortable lead of 27 points.

Results, ESR Superbike, Imatra, Race 1: 1. Eemeli Lahti (FIN)*, Aprilia, 10 laps in 18:31.237 mins. 2. Niko Lehtiranta (FIN)*, BMW, +10.230 sec. 3. Lukas Maurer (CH)*, BMW, 19.246 sec behind. 4. Kenny Koskinen (FIN)*, Ducati. 5. Ville Valtonen (FIN)*, Ducati. 6. Fedrik Matthys (B), BMW. 7. Laurent Hoffmann (B), BMW. 8. Anssi Koski (FIN), Yamaha. Also: 15. Olivier Lupberger (CH), Yamaha. *Guest rider, no points.