The IDM Supersport class is packed with young, up-and-coming riders. At the Lausitzring, they all share the same goal: to beat Jan-Ole Jähnig , the 17-year-old from Thuringia who also competes in the Supersport . Victor Steeman from the Netherlands and Toni Erhard lead the standings. The two KTM riders are followed by Dion Otten, the first and only Honda rider in the field. Jähnig is fourth and does not compete in every race. The 2017 champion only takes his KTM to the starting grid when there are no conflicts with World Championship dates.
It makes perfect sense, then, that Jähnig is the one to beat in the IDM Supersport . Instead of being the hunter, the 11th-place World Championship rider is now the hunted. But this time, the Freudenberg WorldSSP Team rider is competing under difficult conditions. He knows what the competition is capable of and wants to win, “but my World Championship bike is already in Portimao for the next event. I’m riding a standard bike at the Lausitzring. It’s on loan from KTM.” Jähnig adds: “I can tune my World Championship machine more precisely.” Team boss Carsten Freudenberg does have different fork springs in his luggage, but the time for a conversion is extremely tight. In free practice today, Friday, Jähnig was the second-fastest rider, 0.143 seconds behind Victor Steeman.
Jähnig will fly to Portimão, Portugal, early next week, where World Championship testing will continue. He and his teammate Maximilian Kappler, who is not at the Lausitzring, are already under contract with the Freudenberg WorldSSP Team for the 2019 World Championship season.