“I finished second and fifth in the season opener at the Sachsenring,” said the Krostitz-based rider, looking back. And things also went well in Oschersleben to begin with. “I managed to lead the field for a few laps,” he says, looking at the positives. “But then I had serious problems with the tyres and couldn’t keep up with the pace of the others.” The results from the first race highlight just how unforgiving a sport it really is: Finsterbusch was relegated from the top positions and only finished in tenth place. Arguably still a strong performance, but “in this case, nothing more than damage limitation,” he says.

The weekend in Most mentioned at the beginning ended in similar fashion. Finsterbusch finished tenth in the first race after his brief excursion through the gravel. Things looked better in the second race – although still not quite as good as he’d like. “I was in contention for victory until the halfway point, but then fell victim to my own conservative tyre choice,” he says. Which means: The tyres are finished, which means no more grip, especially no cornering grip. Finsterbusch falls back – and narrowly misses out a podium place, finishing fourth. And yet he has showcased his reputation and his talent: He continues to rack up the points and climbs to fourth place in the overall rankings.