The first race of the IDM Supersport 300 at the Schleizer Dreieck ended with a surprise: it wasn’t one of the KTM riders from the Freudenberg WorldSSP Academy who claimed the overall victory, but rather Angelo Licciardi from Belgium, the double winner at Oschersleben. The previous leaders, Jan-Ole Jähnig (Nobitz) and Victor Steeman (NL), both World Championship riders, dropped out in the second lap due to crashes. “One of them slipped and took the other down,” Licciardi described the precarious situation right in front of him. “I was lucky that I was still able to swerve out of the way.”
Toni Erhard (Schwarzenberg) was also unable to capitalize on his strong starting position. The defending champion had been on an upward trend, finishing third in qualifying. In the race, the 18-year-old initially held onto a podium position. However, in a dramatic final lap, he lost third place and finished fifth behind David Kuban (CZE) on a KTM and Rick Dunnik (NL) on a Yamaha.
Second place went to Jeffrey Buis (NL), another guest rider from the World Championship. This means Kawasaki can celebrate a one-two finish. With Licciardi, Buis, and Kuban, riders from three different countries took the spots on the podium. Angelo Licciardi takes the lead in the IDM standings with his third win of the season. At 21 years old, the rider of Italian descent is the veteran of the IDM junior class. “I’ve had a lot of bad luck in my career, especially last year,” he said after his victory. “Then I successfully changed my riding style.” Now “The Animal” is back on the attack.
With his impressive form, he has replaced Rick Dunnik at the top of the IDM standings and now leads the Dutchman by five points.
Next up is Colin Velthuizen (NL), another fast Ninja 400 rider. The NUTEC-RT Motorsports by SKM-Kawasaki rider is still waiting for his first IDM race win. At Schleiz, he had to settle for sixth place overall in Saturday’s race.
Update: Jeffrey Buis was disqualified following the subsequent inspection of the motorcycles by the technical commissioners. The required stickers were missing from the tires. Buis was demoted to sixth place. Consequently, Kuban is second and Dunnik third.