When will the first victory in the IDM come? This question faced Lennox Lehmann the entire first race weekend in Oschersleben. Everyone asks him this question. As a champion you have to perform. As a champion, you have to win. Even more so when you’ve taken your championship title without a win. In 2020, Lennox Lehmann entered the IDM Supersport 300 with Team Freudenberg. Thanks to his consistent performance, the newcomer directly won the championship title, and without a win at all. At the end of the very short and compressed 2020 IDM season, consistency decided the title. Lennox became the number 1 who never stood on the 1.
No surprise that the question of the first victory overshadowed the start of the season. What that pressure can do to a young talent, a teenager? It can block. It can unsettle. It can cost the whole race weekend. Dealing with such pressure, staying with yourself and turning it into something positive requires a certain degree of maturity and, above all, cool-headedness. Lennox has dealt with this pressure. The young Freudenberg driver came to Oschersleben to defend his championship title. To show everyone that the number 1 rightly adorns his bike.
All eyes were on him this weekend. He was able to shake off the tension and pressure. In the first two practice runs he drove best times. In the third free practice then a first exclamation mark: The second fastest time was recorded at the end of the last practice session. With this good feeling he went into the first qualifying session. After a driving mistake, Lennox crashed while lying in 3rd place. Despite the very good second qualifying he started the race on Sunday from position 3. Not a bad starting position for the first two races of the 2021 season.
On Sunday the sky was cloudy over the race track. There were changing conditions the on the drivers of each class. Before the start of the IDM 300 Supersport race it had rained, despite this the race was declared a dry race. Slicks were mounted and the tension was felt. Will the racing line be dry enough? Will the weather hold or will it rain again? The weather held and the race went well for Lennox. From the beginning he drove in front and was part of the leading group. In the end it was not enough for the first place. Only 0.07 seconds separated Lennox from the first victory. With the first podium, the second race of the season started in the afternoon. Lennox pulled away with his teammate Dirk Geiger. Together they opened up a lead that was to shrink again by the end of the race. The chasing group closed the gap and it became exciting again. But this time it should succeed. In the end, Lennox’s 0.04-second lead was enough for his first victory in the IDM 300 Supersport.
Lennox proved it to everyone this weekend. He rightly wears the number 1.
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