The winner of the first race at Zolder was Ilya Mikhalchik (alpha racing-Van Zon-BMW). Bastien Mackels (Wilbers-BMW) had fought so hard to win on his home track in order to close the gap on the IDM leader. It was all in vain. Mikhalchik actually extended his lead.
Mackels got off to the best start, at times riding faster than he had in yesterday’s qualifying, and held the lead until the final lap. Mikhalchik never gave up on turning the result around. Although he had crashed twice in yesterday’s qualifying, he set to work with his usual determination and significantly closed the gap to Mackels as early as the third lap. It happened on the 17th and final lap. Mikhalchik made his move. Entering the final chicane side-by-side with Mackels, the Ukrainian was just a few meters from the finish line. Mikhalchik crossed it 0.025 seconds ahead of Mackels. It was a close call.
A dejected Mackels said professionally, “It wasn’t easy to ride alone at the front and stay focused the whole time. We really crossed the finish line side by side. But that wasn’t enough to win.”
Winner Mikhalchik began by publicly thanking his team. “The mechanics had to completely rebuild the BMW after my two crashes in practice. We still had a few issues in practice, but when everything was working in the race, I asked myself if I shouldn’t go on the attack.”
Teammate Julian Puffe secured a BMW one-two-three finish on the podium. Stefan Kerschbaumer (MPB Racing) brought the first Yamaha across the finish line in fourth place. The brands lined up in perfect order. Fifth place went to Suzuki rider Dominic Schmitter (HPC Power), who had fought his way forward bit by bit. Jan Halbich was the first Honda rider to cross the finish line in sixth place.
Daniel Kartheininger (MPB Racing) and Toni Finsterbusch (Team Suzuki Mayer) battled fiercely for seventh place. Yamaha rider Kartheininger, who had a terrible start, had the advantage.