ADAC Northern Europe Cup: Changeable weather livens up proceedings at Silverstone

• Races staged as part of BRB weekend and contested under variable conditions
• Luca de Vleeschauwer celebrates maiden win in Standard category
• Ernst Dubbink claims victory in GP class

Silverstone: Saturday’s changeable and cool weather conditions at Silverstone (England) certainly made for variety on this penultimate weekend of the ADAC Northern Europe Cup. In the context of the British Superbike Championship weekend, the famous circuit in Northamptonshire is also hosting two rounds of this competition for the talented riders of the Standard and Junior classes who get to compete both separately and alongside the British Moto3 drivers.

Intriguing three-way tussle in the Standard class

As the Standard class got underway, the sun was shining on the 5.9km track, yet some sections remained wet after the preceding rain showers. In an exciting sprint race and after numerous changes of position, Luca de Vleeschauwer (15, NED) came through to clinch a maiden victory in the ADAC Northern Europe Cup.

Leon Orgis (16, GER) crossed the line just 0.176 seconds behind the speedy Dutch teenager, warding off the challenge from Dirk Geiger (15, GER) in a hard-fought three-way encounter. The current leader in the Standard category and ADAC Sports Foundation protégé took the chequered flag 0.038 seconds behind his Kiefer Racing team-mate. Philipp Freitag (20, GER) and Oliver König (15, CZE) rounded off the Top Five.

GP class: Dubbink secures flawless victory

The Grand Prix class was spiced up by a short burst of rain just before the start. As soon as the riders had lined up on track, the rain stopped. The wet surface created difficult conditions, to which current championship leader and pole-sitter Tim Georgi (17, GER) fell victim as early as Lap 1. He thus failed to score any points in Saturday’s race.

Due to the difficult conditions, the contest was shortened to eight laps. Jan-Ole Jähnig (16, GER) immediately took the lead, but after six laps, the 16-year-old also came off his bike on the semi-wet track, leaving the way open for Ernst Dubbink (28, NED), who the defended P1 through to the finish and a second victory of the season. Ruben Bijman (13, NED) was runner-up.

The second race for the Standard class riders starts on Sunday at 10:45 local time, followed by the second round of the GP category at 14:55.

Comments from the Top Three

Luca de Vleeschauwer (15, NED), winner, ADAC NEC Standard:
“The race was really exciting. We were changing positions on almost every corner and doing so in spectacular fashion, because the track was still partially wet. It was incredible today, and I’m overjoyed to have won here. In the wet places, it was really hard to have confidence in the bike, but I still managed to keep up my pace. I’m very pleased with this result and hope that I can repeat it tomorrow.”

Leon Orgis (16, GER), second, ADAC NEC Standard:
“My start was by no means perfect, but I was still able to enter the first turn among the first five and come out of it with plenty of momentum. But I initially hung back in midfield to see what the front-runners were doing. From time to time, I was among the leading group, but I thought it would be smarter to save up my attack for the end. I gambled on this strategy and was rewarded with second place. I think that I’m in good shape for the second race tomorrow, too, and I’m very pleased with my position.”

Dirk Geiger (15, GER), third, ADAC NEC Standard:
“My start was really good, and I was among the leading bunch of riders. In the far section of the track, it was still relatively wet, so we had to be careful on the fast sections, and that cost me time. Later on, I tried to close the gap. I pushed and pushed, and I managed to move up to P3 on the final lap. The result is certainly OK, but I’m obviously hoping to go one better tomorrow.”

Ernst Dubbink (28, NED), winner, ADAC NEC GP:
“The start of the race was quite tough, since I’ve been having some problems in the wet since yesterday, but I was gradually feeling more confident after every lap. Jan-Ole was ahead of me, and I was getting faster all the while, but he also stepped up his pace. Even so, I was getting closer and closer to him, until he went down two laps before the end of the race. After that, I simply aimed to keep up a steady pace and see the victory safely over the line.”

Ruben Bijman (13, NED), second, ADAC NEC GP:
“I got off to a good start, but I was struggling a bit on the first few corners, because I wanted to see how the grip was going to hold up in these conditions. I would have liked to have stuck with Ernst, but it wasn’t possible. In the end, I decided not to take any risks and to bank the podium, which worked out OK for me. I’m very happy about today, and I hope that I can get a similar result in the second race tomorrow.”