IDM rookie Kevin Sieder, from Sepp Buchner’s Bikerbox Racing team powered by Yamaichi Electronics, achieved his best result of the season at the Schleizer Dreieck. He finished 14th, earning two championship points. For Sepp Buchner, who helped Marvin Fritz win the championship in the IDM top class two years ago, this is uncharted territory and a challenge at the same time.
After a crash on Friday morning, an electronic glitch had crept into the Yamaha YZF-R1M that could not be pinpointed despite Buchner’s thorough search and experience. “As early as Friday evening, due to the one-bike rule, we had to decide which bike we would use for qualifying and the races,” Buchner explains. Kevin Sieder therefore had to make do with the spare bike for the rest of the weekend. During an overnight shift, the actual test bike was retrofitted with parts from the 2018 race bike and made ready for action.
“I was 17th on the starting grid, which was actually satisfactory, but didn’t meet our goals,” says Sieder, continuing: “We know we’re capable of more by now. We made further adjustments before the warm-up, and they had a very positive effect right away. On used tires, I was faster than the day before. Unfortunately, I really messed up the start in the first race. So I had to make up ground from way back. I managed that well, but a gear-shifting error cost me a potential top-15 finish. In the second race, our pace was competitive, and I was able to post very consistent lap times. Two points may not be the haul we’d hoped for, but this weekend has shown that we’re capable of quickly overcoming unexpected difficulties.”
Buchner adds: “The gap to the front is getting smaller and smaller. After a difficult weekend like this one, that fact gives us a boost for the upcoming races.”