SBK1000 – Will Sepp Buchner turn Kevin Sieder into a champion, too?

After a year away, tuner and team manager Sepp Buchner is returning to the IDM. He’s banking on a rookie as his driver. His name is Kevin Sieder; he’s 18 years old and comes from Lower Austria. © Photo: Dino Eisele

Just a quick reminder: With Marvin Fritz, the gifted tuner Sepp Buchner achieved a remarkable success story. Within four years, the Bavarian guided his protégé to two IDM titles—first in the Supersport 600 class and then in 2016 in Superbikes. Together, the dream team moved up to the Superstock 1000 European Championship with Yamaha. Now their paths have diverged. Fritz can no longer try to do two things at once, since he was also competing in the Endurance World Championship for Team Yamaha Austria. He had to make a decision. He chose to focus on the Endurance World Championship.

Buchner is banking on young talent

So Buchner is developing a new young talent on his Bikerbox team and is also looking forward to the IDM comeback. Kevin Sieder is an unknown quantity in Germany’s top road racing class. The Lower Austrian has previously raced in the Czech and Austrian championships. Apart from the Lausitzring, he is unfamiliar with any of the tracks where the IDM is held. 2017 will be a learning year. He’s supposed to really get to know the YZF-R1. Before the season kicks off in late April at Oschersleben, he’ll have time to do so during eleven test days at three tracks in Spain. That’s because, up until now, Sieder has mostly ridden Kawasakis.