Strong Pace at Brno Delivers a Top-Five Finish
Twan Smits again showed his competitive speed during the EURO MOTO Superbike round at the iconic Brno Circuit in the Czech Republic. Despite tricky qualifying conditions and tyre wear in the races, he closed out the weekend with a strong ride in race two.
Friday: a promising start
First free practice began well for Smits. By his fifth of thirteen laps he'd posted a 1'57.763, third on the timesheet and an immediate sign of his pace. In the second session, with conditions slightly different, times crept up. Smits impressed again, ending the session fastest with a 1'57.825.
Pre-Superpole followed later that day. Smits opened strongly, improving to 1'57.566 on his first flying lap. That was good enough for fourth and direct passage into Superpole 2, leaving the rest of the session free to work on setup and race pace.
Saturday: strong practice pace, a difficult qualifying
Third free practice saw Smits post a 1'57.826 for fifth, leaving him fifth on combined times after three sessions — though concerns about tyre wear and setup were building behind the scenes.
Heavy rain arrived just before Superpole 1, completely changing conditions and grip levels. By the start of Superpole 2 the track had mostly dried, but despite the improved conditions Smits struggled to find his rhythm and ran into several issues. His best lap of 1'58.290 was enough for fifth on the grid.
Sunday: race pace rewarded with a top five
In race one, Smits' pace was considerably better than his grid slot suggested. From the start through lap seven he ran an impressive third, before early front-tyre wear caused real problems in the second half of the race, dropping him back gradually. Despite the disappointing result — only three other riders managed 1'57s all weekend — he crossed the line eighth.
For race two Smits changed his approach, managing the race and conserving the tyre more carefully while staying competitive throughout. He moved up to fourth immediately after the start, briefly slipped to fifth, then reclaimed fourth on lap nine, fighting for a top-four spot for long stretches. An unexpected tyre issue on the final lap cost him a position, leaving him fifth — a deserved top-five result and important points.
"Brno was a new circuit for us, so it was hard to know where we'd stand beforehand," Smits said. "The pace was strong early on, but tyre wear became an issue because of the abrasive asphalt. After promising Friday and Saturday sessions I had confidence in a good result. In race one the front tyre lost grip early and I dropped from P3 to P8. For race two I adjusted my riding to look after the tyre and came away with fifth. We got the most out of the weekend."
