The weather turned the starting grid for the IDM Superbike 1000 into a gamble. While conditions were quickly settled during free practice as usual, everything was thrown into disarray during the rainy qualifying session. Erwan Nigon (Weber-Motos Racing) parked his Kawasaki in the pits after seven laps and a best time of 1:38.232 minutes. The World Endurance Champion has covered what feels like thousands of kilometers under such conditions throughout his career. Will he now secure his second victory of the season on the sprint track in the IDM Superbike 1000?
Ilya Mikhalchik (alpha Racing-Van Zon-BMW) clocked a time of 1:38.489 minutes in just five laps. Alessandro Polita (Honda Holzhauer Racing Promotion) completed eight laps and posted a time of 1:39.599 minutes. This also means that Kawasaki, BMW, and Honda will occupy the front row of the grid—something that hasn’t happened yet this year.
BMW driver Stefan Kerschbaumer, who is filling in for the injured Jan Mohr on the BCC team, is in fourth place ahead of Julian Puffe (alpha Racing-Van Zon-BMW) and Bobby Bos (HPC-Power Suzuki Racing). Puffe explains what happened and why he’s so far back by his standards: “It was drizzling during the first qualifying session. We thought it would clear up and waited for the weather to improve. Unfortunately, we waited too long. It just got worse and worse. Luckily, I still managed to secure the fifth starting position.”
The next starting positions are held by Philipp Gengelbach (Suzuki), Toni Finsterbusch (Suzuki), Marc Neumann (BMW), and the top Yamaha rider, Marc Moser.
In the second qualifying session, all drivers except Ricardo Brink (SWPN, Yamaha), Leon Langstädtler (MPB Racing), and Kevin Sieder (HPC-Power Suzuki Racing) stayed in the pits. The reason: rain. Brink had to go out no matter what. He hadn’t completed a single full lap that morning, which he desperately needed for qualifying. The Dutchman hadn’t met the 115% rule. After the second rain-soaked qualifying session, race control decided that he could still start, but from the very back of the grid. Brink: “I have to finish in the top nine. That means full throttle.” The 21-year-old had finished on the podium at the Lausitzring at the start of the season.