Yes, and he was hot on the tail of future ace and famed canadian pioneer pilot 'Wop' May ( first use of an airplane to track a 'criminal' the enigmatic Albert Johnson, aka Mad Trapper of Rat River.)But on that first sortie May was in a total panic using evasive manuevers when a simple straight on escape at full throttle would have left the slower Fokker far behind his Sopwith Camel.
And then too, Richtofen was still suffering from a headwound after being shot down by a observer gunner in a RE8, the very machine many of his victories were made against.The Baron was suffering from the phenomenon of focusing only on his quarry, blind to his position and flew right into a single lucky .303 round from a australian machinegun on the ground.
So again, you learn and relearn. Sometimes the best lesson is to stay on the ground when not 100% as I am tonight (lousy cold season.)