ESR, Imatra, Race 2: Start-to-finish victory for Lahti, Matthys again ahead of Laurent

Eemeli Lahti, the pole-sitter and winner from the previous day, left no doubt as to who would finish first in the second race of the European Series Road Racing (ESR) Superbike. By the end of the opening lap, the Finnish Aprilia rider already had a lead of more than two seconds. After ten laps, he crossed the line almost ten seconds ahead of his nearest challenger.

Niko Lehtiranta, who was riding the vacant BMW previously ridden by the injured Erno Kostamo, got off to a slow start and returned from the first lap of the 4.95-kilometre Jarno Saarinen Circuit in fourth place. First he overtook his Finnish compatriot Kenny Koskinen (Ducati), then the Swiss rider Lukas Maurer (BMW) also had to let him past.

As on Saturday evening, the Belgian Fedrik Matthys, finishing sixth behind five guest riders not eligible for points, prevailed over his compatriot and BMW team-mate Laurent Hoffmann in the battle for the highest-placed ESR rider. With third place in the internal ESR standings, the Finn Anssi Koski (Yamaha) consolidated his third position in the championship.

After finishing 15th on Saturday and 14th on Sunday, Olivier Lupberger could return home feeling thoroughly satisfied, as the Yamaha rider managed to pick up a further 21 points for the championship. The Swiss rider is locked in a thrilling battle with the Czech Jakub Sprojcar (Yamaha) for fifth place in the ESR standings.

For Nico Müller, however, the trip to the far north did not pay off. In practice, he showed with the eighth-fastest time that a place in the upper midfield was certainly within reach, but technical issues let the German BMW rider down. He was unable to even start the first race, and in Race 2, his race came to an end after just three laps.

Results, ESR Superbike, Imatra, Race 2: 1. Eemeli Lahti (FIN)*, Aprilia, 10 laps in 18:25.399 mins. 2. Niko Lehtiranta (FIN)*, BMW, +9.872 sec. 3. Kenny Koskinen (FIN)*, Ducati, 13.576 sec behind. 4. Lukas Maurer (CH)*, BMW. 5. Ville Valtonen (FIN)*, Ducati. 6. Fedrik Matthys (B), BMW. 7. Laurent Hoffmann (B), BMW. 8. Anssi Koski (FIN), Yamaha. Also: 14. Olivier Lupberger (CH), Yamaha. DNF Nico Müller (D)*, BMW. *Guest rider, no points.

ESR Standings (after 8 of 12 races): 1. Matthys, 172 points. 2. Hoffmann, 140. 3. Koski, 104. 4. Rasmus Lindstöm (S), Yamaha, 77. 5. Jakub Sprojcar (CZ), Yamaha, 58. 6. Lupberger, 55. 7. Jean-Pierre Polet (B), BMW, 46. 8. Pontus Roestlinger (S), Honda, 44. 9. Rob van Eijs (NL), BMW, 28. 10. Amalric Blanc (F), Yamaha, 26.