First EURO MOTO Superbike Podium at the Sachsenring Opener
Twan Smits had a strong opening weekend to the EURO MOTO Superbike championship, showing his speed and potential from the start despite changeable conditions. After a difficult, rain-affected start to practice, he worked his way steadily forward through the weekend. Qualifying produced a solid fifth on the grid, and he backed it up with a sixth and a strong second place in the races — enough to put him third in the championship after round one.
Free practice
The weekend began in difficult conditions, with rain making the first free practice session barely rideable. Smits ended up with a 1'49.887, good for ninth. Conditions improved considerably for the second session, though times still weren't fully representative. A 1'36.573 was good for fourth, giving the team a base to keep developing the setup.
Pre-Superpole
Smits went into Pre-Superpole with confidence but couldn't find his rhythm, posting a 1'27.713 in mixed conditions for 13th — meaning he had to fight through Q1 for a place in the decisive qualifying segment. Third free practice ran on a dry track and produced the real pace: Smits immediately showed strong speed with a 1'23.783, closing out combined practice fifth and building plenty of confidence for qualifying.
Superpole
Smits bounced back well in Superpole 1, setting the fastest time with a sharp 1'23.020 to guarantee his place in Q2. He improved again there, taking fifth on the grid for Sunday's races with a 1'22.688 — a strong starting position given the difficult conditions earlier in the weekend.
Race 1
Smits had a fantastic start to race one and briefly led after the opening lap. He had to let Lukas Tulovic through on lap two, and Hannes Soomer also passed him on lap five. Front-tyre trouble cost him two more places a lap later, but he kept fighting for a good result. After holding fifth for a long stretch, he was passed by Kevin Orgis on lap 15 and crossed the line sixth, worth ten valuable championship points.
Race 2
Smits again started strongly in race two. He ran second from the first lap and never gave the position up. It was a relatively lonely race, but one that showcased his pace and consistency: he finished just five seconds behind the winner with a comfortable gap back to third — his first-ever EURO MOTO Superbike podium.
His fastest race lap of 1'22.736 was especially impressive, barely slower than his qualifying time, underlining the pace he carried through the whole weekend.
Championship
The strong results from both races put Smits third in the championship, twenty points behind the leader and just three points off second — with the Race 2 podium giving plenty of confidence for the rest of the season. The next round follows two weeks later, from 29 to 31 May, at Brno in the Czech Republic.
"The feeling with the bike was a bit uncertain all weekend, especially in combination with the tyres," Smits said.
