In qualifying for the season-opening round of the IDM Supersport 300 series in Oschersleben, defending champion Jan-Ole Jähnig from Lehndorf secured pole position. The 17-year-old from Thuringia leads the large field with a time of 1:38.403 minutes. However, he is only 0.078 seconds faster than the strong Dutch contender Victor Steeman on another KTM RC 390 R, who is competing in a race on the 3.667-kilometer track for the first time.
The 17-year-old rider Victor Steeman from Lathum in the province of Gelderland also has very little experience with his motorcycle. “We only received all the parts from KTM last week,” Steeman reports. He rode his new motorcycle for the first time during test sessions in Oschersleben the week before the IDM season opener. “We did the first qualifying session on old tires,” Steeman explains. That was enough, however, for him to initially set the third-fastest time. With new tires, he then moves up to second place, relegating Jähnig’s teammate Maximilian Kappler to third.
The 20-year-old KTM rider from the Sachsenring is still struggling with suspension issues in the first qualifying session, but the team is able to resolve them. “The changes noticeably improved the handling,” emphasizes Kappler. This is evidenced by his best time in the second session. He was able to reduce the gap to his teammate to 0.25 seconds. For the 20-year-old KTM rider from the Sachsenring, however, qualifying ended with a minor mishap: “My drive chain broke during a start attempt.”
Team boss Carsten Freudenberg isn’t entirely satisfied with the qualifying results of his two protégés: “First and third place aren’t tactically optimal.” The team from Bischofswerda traveled to the Magdeburg Börde riding the momentum of their World Championship victory in Assen: Their rider Luca Grünwald won the second race in Holland a week ago. “This success gives us confidence,” says Freudenberg. IDM pole-setter Jan-Ole Jähnig scored his first World Championship points there with an eighth-place finish. So at the IDM opener, the entire front row will be filled with KTMs. This is the Austrian manufacturer’s first year as a title partner of the new IDM.
Toni Erhard continues in the second row with KTM. The 17-year-old rider from the Kiefer Team recovered well from his crash in the first practice session, and Dutchman Dion Otten caused a surprise by finishing fifth in practice: riding the only Honda in the field, he placed ahead of ADAC Junior Cup winner Max Schmidt on a KTM. The 14-year-old from Wuppertal had to settle for sixth place. However, Schmidt was able to improve his best time by more than six-tenths of a second in the second qualifying session. The talented rider from the Bergisches Land region relegated Dutchman Finn de Bruyn, the fastest Yamaha rider, to seventh place.
The practice results promise two exciting opening races for the IDM Supersport 300. Last year’s champion Jan-Ole Jähnig cautions: “As we all know, a race has its own rules.” Lurking behind him is the ambitious IDM rookie Victor Steeman: “Our goal in the first race is victory.”
Orange Wave: KTM has entered the IDM Supersport 300 class and secured pole position right off the bat. Text: Dirk Johae, Photo: Dino Eisele