This afternoon’s IRRC Hengelo Superbike encounter had a bit of everything, ranging from hard fought competition to rapid lap times to entertaining duels.
Putting behind him the disappointment of a first non finish of the season, Lukas Maurer set the early pace, moving over half a second clear on lap one, with Davy Thoonen, David Datzer and Didier Grams all in close pursuit.
Maurer maintained the race lead on lap 2 but it was all change on lap three as MTP Racing’s Datzer hit the front.
1.73 seconds clear post lap four, lap five would see four times IRRC Superbike Champion Grams slot into second behind his fellow countryman.
It wasn’t long till G&G Motorsport/BMW Motorrad supported Grams provided pressure in abundance to plucky leader Datzer.
By the end of lap five, he was only 0.482 in arrears and by lap six’s conclusion, Datzer’s lead stood at only 0.218 of a second.
Despite his hard charging efforts, Grams would have to ultimately settle for second and 20 prized Championship points as TT Races newcomer from 2019, Datzer scored a second IRRC race triumph.
Early pace setter Maurer got the better of Davy Thoonen for third and now holds a modest 10 point IRRC Superbike Championship lead over the above showcased Grams.
Wrapping up the top ten finishers behind the aforementioned racers were Joey Den Besten, Virgil Amber Bloemhard, Laurent Hoffmann, Marek Cerveny, Sweden’s Markus Karlsson and 2012 Newcomers A Manx GP victor Kamil Holan.
Quick focus as well on the UK’s only representative Mark Purslow, who took a respectable 13th place finish, ending an overall pretty productive maiden Varsselring racing tenure.
Photo credit Robby Repsol
Words by Stevie Rial #dontletfearcontrolyou