S4 and SM Junior European Championships:
Gomez and Albrecht won in Germany
The riders of the S4 and SM Junior put on a great show that paid off the audience arrived in St. Wendel. In the S4, Spanish Francisco Gomez Requena (Husqvarna) triumphed thanks to a double victory and Kevin Vandi (L30 Racing Tm Factory) is the current Championship leader, while young German Til Albrecht starred in the SM Junior.
S4
In Race 1 Alex Ruiz Jimenez (L30 Racing Tm Factory) did not make any mistake at the start of the race and perfectly took advantage of the pole position, his main rivals Francisco Gomez Requena (Husqvarna) and Kevin Vandi (L30 Racing Tm Factory) could not do anything else apart from following him. After a few laps Alex Ruiz Jimenez crashed forcing the race to be red flagged, unfortunately the strong Spanish rider could not get back to racing.
When the race restarted Francisco Gomez Requena took the lead, Kevin Vandi could not keep up with the Spanish challenger and had to be happy with the second position. Third on the finish line was Lorenzo Papalini (L30 Racing Tm Factory).
The second moto, without Alex Ruiz Jimenez, was a battle for two between Francisco Gomez Requena (Husqvarna) and Kevin Vandi (L30 Racing Tm Factory) but the challenge lasted just the time to get to the first corner. Gomez Requena pulled away at the start and left no room for his rival. The Spanish had an incredible rhythm at the German city circuit and was able to open a solid gap over rivals and manage most of the race.
Lorenzo Papalini (L30 Racing Tm Factory), third qualified in the race, slipped at the second corner and threw away the chance of reaching the podium. Alexis Delong (TM) finished third thanks to a solid race.
SM Junior
Race 1 saw a close fight in the SM Junior, where Matej Kokes (Husqvarna) took advantage of the first position but during the second lap he was overtaken by home rider Til Albrecht (Yamaha) who set his race pace. Kokes tried to stay close to him for the whole moto but the German rider managed to take a slight advantage lap after lap and crossed the finish line alone. Christoph Steiner (KTM) was third. Standings leader Andrea Benvenuti (KTM) improved his performance after an unsatisfactory result in the qualifying and finished with the fourth place.
Matej Kokes (Husqvarna) made a mistake at the start of the second Race 2 losing several positions at the first corner, Paul Mueller (GasGas) took the lead followed by Til Albrecht (Yamaha).
During the second lap Albrecht took the lead and managed to take a great advantage thanks to an excellent pace that allowed him to win the race, more than six seconds ahead of the second qualified. Matej Kokes, who was fifth after the first lap, had to work hard to recover and get back at the front. With two laps to go, he moved to second position, Paul Mueller was third at the end of the race.
The overall podium went to the winner Til Albrecht, thanks to his double victory, Matej Kokes was second and is the current series leader. The third step of the podium went to Christoph Steiner.
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