Aussie Damian Cudlin continued his bid for the 2008 German Supersport Championship title with another podium finish at Schleiz on the weekend.
Starting from the second row of the grid, Cudlin made a slow start in opening leg, sitting just 9th as they crossed the strip for the first time.
Schleiz, a circuit notoriously known for being hard to pass on, didn’t make Cudlin’s task any easier, as he bullied his way forward each lap.
As the race went on, Russian Vladimir Ivanov and German Arne Tode made a break at the front, as Cudlin tried frantically to pass the remaining men who stood between him and the leaders.
With 2 laps remaining Cudlin made his final surge, equalling the fastest lap of the race, to overcome a 1.4 second deficit to reach the final step on the podium.
“That was a tough race, made much tougher from such a bad start.” Cudlin said after the race.
“It’s so hard to pass around here that you just can’t afford to blow the start, not in this company anyway. I‘m glad I could fight back onto the podium, but I‘m disappointed I couldn‘t get away with these guys at the front as we had the speed to win today.”
Ivanov went on to steal victory from Championship leader Tode, keeping the points table tight heading into Sunday’s second race.
In a much better start, Cudlin hooked onto the leading pack in the opening laps, poised for his charge to the front before a heavy crash by one of the tail enders caused a red flag and re-start, much to the Aussies dismay.
Blasting from the line for the second time, Cudlin wrestled with the field in the first corner before being clipped from behind, spearing him and his machine into the grass. In a gritty fight back from 22nd position, Cudlin entertained the boisterous crowd as he sliced through the riders in front of him, eventually finishing 7th.
“I’m obviously really disappointed with the weekends results, as I think we could’ve given Vlad and Arne a run for their money had we been a bit more fortunate.” Cudlin explained.
“But that’s racing and it just shows that anything can happen on race day.”
Cudlin now sits 3rd in the Championship standings, just 5 points behind Ivanov, but a stark 44 points behind leader Tode.
“This weekend hurt our championship aspirations, but like I’ve said all along, this year was about getting on the map and we’ve done that.”
“There are still 4 races left, so I’m just going to improve my starts and give it plenty of throttle from here on in.” Cudlin grinned.
Cudlin will do double duties at Oschersleben, riding in both the Endurance World Championship and German Championship races this weekend.
