Unless hampered by a mechanical failure, defending IDM Superbike 1000 champion Ilya Mikhalchik (alpha Racing-Van Zon-BMW) is unbeatable. With one exception: Erwan Nigon (Kawasaki Weber-Motos Racing) managed to do it at Oschersleben.
Mikhalchik has a special talent. He wins races in his head. He is completely focused on victory. The 22-year-old Ukrainian from Team alpha Racing-Van Zon-BMW gave another demonstration of this at the Schleizer Dreieck. He also won the second IDM Superbike 1000 race, relegating his teammate and current championship leader Julian Puffe to second place. This also means that Mikhalchik has closed the gap on Puffe in the standings. The two are now separated by just nine points.
Julian Puffe had been so eager to win his home race. Last year, too, the local hero was denied the victory that meant so much to him. Now he said, “Actually, we have to be satisfied. I did a lot of the work at the front, but in the final third I still need to find a way to stay ahead. We’ll get there.” The battle for the championship is far from over.
The reverse grid meant that Mikhalchik started from ninth position and Puffe from eighth. Puffe had already moved up to third place by the end of the first lap. By the second lap, he was leading the field. Behind him was Pepijn Bijsterbosch (Dutch Comfort Houses), who capitalized on the opportunity and his pole position from the second race. Marc Moser (MGM, Yamaha), Alex Polita (Holzhauer Racing Promotion, Honda), and Ricardo Brink (SWPN, Yamaha) battled each other for positions. By the end, Mikhalchik had overtaken them all. He won ahead of Puffe and Bijsterbosch. As in the first race, this resulted in an all-BMW podium. Moser finished fourth, Polita fifth. Since the IDM round at the Nürburgring, Moser has been on an upward trend. The races at the Schleizer Dreieck have already propelled him to seventh place in the overall standings.
Stefan Kerschbaumer proved to be a good choice as a substitute for Erwan Nigon, who was successfully battling for the world title in the FIM Endurance World Championship at Suzuka, Japan. He finished sixth. Marc Neumann (Neumann Racing) crossed the finish line in seventh place—for the second time that weekend. The races at the Schleizer Dreieck earned him by far his best points haul of the year so far.