One thing is certain after the second qualifying session of the IDM Superbike 1000 at the season opener at the Lausitzring: Even though defending champion Ilya Mikhalchik snagged pole position, he won’t have an easy time of it in tomorrow’s races. The competition is hot on the heels of the Ukrainian, who is riding the brand-new BMW S 1000 RR. This is especially true of his own alpha Racing-Van Zon-BMW teammate, Julian Puffe. The 23-year-old from Schleiz won the first practice session and was 0.565 seconds faster than his pitmate.
In the second qualifying session, too, it looked for a long time as though Puffe would come out on top. But six minutes before the checkered flag, Mikhalchik struck and turned the tables. Mikhalchik secured pole position for the first Superbike race with an eleven-hundredths-of-a-second lead. Mikhalchik, who can only be happy when he feels completely at ease in his role, even managed a hint of a smile for the spectators after the second qualifying session.
But Puffe can also be satisfied with second place on the grid. After all, he’s finally managed to “put together a single lap that moves me up the grid.”
Erwan Nigon, who finished third—and whose current form following his IDM triumph seven years ago was anyone’s guess—fortunately proved to be in top form for Kawasaki. Not only is he a top contender in the World Endurance Championship, but he also emerged as a competitive contender in the title race during the sprint race at Lausitz. In addition, the Frenchman expressed great optimism about his IDM comeback. “Podium? Yes, that’s not impossible. I’m confident we can do it.” The Kawasaki crew at Weber Motos modified the ZX-10R’s suspension according to his specifications. Nigon is one of those riders who can analyze the situation and make precise assessments.
Marc Moser (Yamaha) will start fourth on the second row, followed by Maximilian Weihe. The rookie surged from tenth to fifth position in a single move. Toni Finsterbusch (Suzuki) rounds out the second row of the grid. Alessandro Polita (Honda) in eighth place ensured that all five motorcycle brands represented in the IDM Superbike 1000 had at least one Superbike in the top ten on the starting grid.
Jan Bühn will not be on the starting grid: During test runs two weeks ago in Oschersleben, he suffered a comminuted fracture in his right metacarpal bone in a crash and is now wearing a cast. A hairline fracture was also detected in the carpometacarpal joint of his left hand. If everything heals well, Bühn will return to the IDM Superbike field on June 8 in Oschersleben. However, nothing stopped him from coming to the Lausitz circuit anyway, albeit not as a BMW rider, but as an advisor to his EGS Racing teammate Kim Eby, who is new to the class.