Three days of practice in Most, Czech Republic, had Julian Puffe pondering once again . Defending IDM Superbike 1000 champion Ilya Mikhalchik was once again faster than him—by as much as half a second. The third-fastest rider in Most was HRP-Honda rider Alessandro Polita.
Puffe might freak out: “Ilya’s pulling off an amazing qualifying lap, but I can drive the more consistent laps. It’s just that one incredible lap—the one I absolutely need for the starting grid—that I just can’t seem to pull off.” The practice sessions of the two teammates from alpha Racing-Van Zon-BMW Nothing has changed on the tire-wearing track in Most.
However, his top priority was also “staying in the race.” “This was the first time I’ve ridden my own motorcycle,” says Puffe. “At the rollout in March, I was still riding a test bike from alpha Racing that had been prepared to the first spec level. Now I really have my own S 1000 RR. It’s state-of-the-art. But we should try not to crash, because we don’t have many spare parts in stock yet.”
A lot of modifications were made, various setups were tested, and the initial data has been collected. “The setup from the old S 1000 RR doesn’t work at the front or the rear. We had to completely discard that data,” said Puffe and Mikhalchik, who were scrambling to find a base setup for the new model.
“Somehow, Ilya must be beatable,” Puffe hopes, thinking he might be able to get a little more out of it. “After all, Bastien Mackels managed to do it last year.” But Puffe also knows: “It’s getting harder and harder, because these courses aren’t new to Ilya anymore.”
Compared to his rival from Schleiz, Thuringia, the 22-year-old Ukrainian has a priceless advantage. He has been riding a motorcycle every day for years at the family-run Mikhalchik Academy in Kyiv, where he also serves as a riding coach. And it’s all right on his doorstep.
“I think I have a top-notch training group with Toni Finsterbusch, Max Enderlein, and Jan-Ole Jähnig—everyone wants to be the best—but we can’t manage to get together more than twice a week,” says Puffe, who’s determined to succeed. He’s staying on track.