Bastien Mackels (Wilbers-BMW) won the first race in the IDM Superbike 1000 class. Second place went to Ukrainian rider Ilya Mikhalchik (alpha Racing-Van Zon-BMW), who also clinched the IDM title in Germany’s top class of road motorcycle racing. Guest rider Florian Alt finished third, putting Yamaha on the podium. Fourth and fifth places went to Suzuki riders Toni Finsterbusch and Dominic Schmitter.
Mackels had gone all in to keep his theoretical title hopes alive for as long as possible, but Mikhalchik would have had to drop out for the tide to turn. At the very least, however, Mackels won the race, in which he and Mikhalchik traded blows. As so often, both attacked each other, and both spoke afterward of fair battles. The spectators love them both. When Mackels threw his gloves into the crowd at the Sachs Curve, he was the hero. After all, he’s secured second place. The Belgian is hoping for more rain in 2019; he really missed it this year. Mackels is a gifted rain rider. The 33-year-old extended his contract with Wilbers last night and will continue to race for the Dutch-born team, which is based and headquartered in Lower Saxony, in 2019.
Mikhalchik will also remain in the IDM Superbike 1000 for 99.9 percent of the 2019 season. Team boss Werner Daemen will present him with an offer for the coming year in the next few days, including appearances in the Superbike World Championship. Mikhalchik really likes the IDM, “and the top 5 are incredibly strong,” he stated today with unusual ease and a beaming smile. In 2019, BMW is launching a new S 1000 RR, with which the Bavarian brand aims to pull even further ahead of the competition, if Henning Putzke, head of BMW Motorrad Germany, has his way. BMW fans have a bright future ahead of them. The new head of the motorcycle division, Dr. Markus Schramm, is very ambitious when it comes to motorsports.