Jan Deitenbach Supermoto Cheb

Jan Deitenbach heads into the summer break at the top of the table

“I’m relieved,” admitted Jan Deitenbach after the race weekend in Cheb, Czech Republic. Because he had his serious accident at the fourth round of the International German SuperMoto Championship a year ago. This time, the rider from Team JD44 Racing – Hertrampf Gruppe finished third on the podium in both races. This enabled him to narrowly defend his lead in the standings.

Deitenbach had already established himself in third place in qualifying on Saturday when he had to stop his ride five minutes before the end. His rear wheel had a defect after a long jump and there was not enough time to make another attempt. In the end, however, he finished in third place and thus on the front row. “It’s a shame, we’ve never had a defect like that before,” explained Deitenbach in the evening. “But luckily no driver was faster in the end and we stayed on the front row of the grid.”

At the start of the first race on Sunday, Jan Deitenbach jumped up to second place and was able to maintain this position for a few laps. However, he was then overtaken, but initially stayed in front. At the halfway point, problems arose with the rear brakes. Deitenbach slowed down a little, as all the other pursuers were already well behind. In the end, he remained in third place. “Everything was okay apart from the brakes, but third place was realistic,” he explained after the race.

Jan Deitenbach won the start in the second race, but was overtaken on the very first lap. And on lap four, the next rider also passed him. “Each time, it was exactly where I crashed last year. I simply took the safe, but unfortunately somewhat slower line,” Deitenbach admitted honestly. But he wasn’t quite prepared to accept third place and picked up the pace again at the halfway point. Right behind the rider in front of him again, he probably inhaled a little too much dust and struggled with his breathing for a moment. He then had to take some pressure off and finished third again. “Twice on the podium, I’m really happy, that was my best race weekend so far here in Cheb,” he said happily on the podium. “I was really in awe this morning because I’ve had so much bad luck here, but now I can even take the championship leader’s red plate into the summer break.”

But things will not be quiet there. Because Jan Deitenbach has once again been nominated for the German national team for the World Team Championships. And there are extensive preparations and training sessions on the agenda in the coming weeks.

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Photos byMazzes Fotomatrix – Reprint free of charge

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