He celebrated his 35th birthday on Sunday and has a perfect points record in the Superstock 600 class. Things are going like clockwork for Stefan Ströhlein right now. The Rothenburg native has put in a lot of hard work to get here. Still, he doesn’t believe he’ll keep winning indefinitely.
When Ströhlein lost to the up-and-coming Marco Fetz last year and finished as runner-up, the self-employed master motorcycle mechanic had only one goal left: to win the class. And he jokes with a grin as he says, “I’d rather be a Superstock champion than a master motorcycle mechanic. To be at the front in Superstock 600, you have to fight extremely hard. To become a master craftsman, you have to pay money and attend courses. The Superstock title is harder to earn, even though a season like this probably costs even more.”
In any case, Ströhlein—who won the Suzuki GSX-R Challenge in 2016—has no intention of letting his 2018 runner-up finish stand. So, right after the 2018 finale, he threw himself into preparations for the 2019 season with full enthusiasm. He stored his Yamaha YZF-R6 in warm Spain from November through February and only had to hop on a plane to train sporadically.
The result of all that hard work: pole position, the fastest lap of the race, and two wins to kick off the season at the Lausitzring. That puts him in the lead in the Superstock 600 standings, ten points ahead of Jan Schmidt and 13 ahead of Moritz Jenkner. The engine in his Yamaha had been completely overhauled beforehand. Ströhlein’s motorcycle is one of the older models in the field.
And now it’s time for the weekend at Oschersleben. The Bavarian really likes the track, but last year, of all places, he had a disappointing showing at the Motorsport Arena: two fourth-place finishes. “Things just weren’t going my way,” Ströhlein recalls. “But I’m in good form now and hope it stays that way. I just don’t think the wins will come easily. My rivals are within striking distance.”