The second round of the IDM Superbike 1000 series in Assen, Netherlands, served as the perfect showcase for Germany’s premier road racing series. It proved that anything is possible. Ilya Mikhalchik of the alpha Racing-Van Zon-BMW team defended his title in the IDM’s premier class in a dramatic race.
Because the starting grid is determined by the reverse grid, Mikhalchik, as the winner of the first race, started from ninth position. From there, he did everything as usual—or rather, nothing. The 23-year-old made no compromises whatsoever. He took out one opponent after another. After passing Bastien Mackels (Wilbers-BMW), he set his sights on Alessandro Polita (Holzhauer Racing Promotion, Honda). After five laps, Mikhalchik was already in third place.
It was clear: the defending champion wanted to clinch the championship title with a win. With the fastest lap time of 1:39.873 minutes, Mikhalchik sealed the deal. No other rider broke the 1:40-minute mark. Dominic Schmitter (Yamaha) and Pepijn Bijsterbosch (Team Dutch Comfort Houses, BMW) tried for a long time at the front to keep their BMW rival behind them—without success. But it was a damn close race right up to the end.
Mikhalchik won by a margin of 0.264 seconds ahead of Schmitter and was beaming. “After two technical retirements this season, it feels great to have defended the title early. At Hockenheim, I can play with the competition.” Mikhalchik slipped into the champion’s T-shirt and was honored during the podium ceremony with an extended version of the Ukrainian national anthem.
Schmitter, who had led the race almost to the very end, gushed: “That was an amazing race. I didn’t think a win like this was possible for me. A week ago, I strained my abductor muscle in a highside. When Mikhalchik passed me, I briefly considered a counterattack, but Ilya was riding an absolutely aggressive line. The risk of crashing would have been way too high.” The Swiss rider is considering competing again at the IDM finale in Hockenheim.
Pepijn Bijsterbosch, who finished third, had plenty of fans lining the track cheering him on. “It was a great race,” he said enthusiastically. “When I was in the lead, I pushed hard to try to pull away. But I could feel my rivals closing in. It was a fantastic battle.”
Bastien Mackels finished fourth in the Assen race. The Belgian had Alessandro Polita right behind him. A group of five followed, consisting of Ricardo Brink (Team SWPN, Yamaha), Erwan Nigon (Kawasaki Weber-Motos Racing Team), and Marc Moser (MGM Racing Performance, Yamaha). Julian Puffe (alpha Racing-Van Zon-BMW) finished ninth. The 23-year-old racer from Schleiz had to endure quite a bit over the weekend: a crash in free practice, pain throughout his body, and the definitive loss of his title chances. Puffe had led the championship at the midpoint of the season.
Tim Eby (EGS Moto Racing, BMW), Björn Stuppi (Buchner Motorsport, BMW), and Tim Stadtmüller (JR-Racingteam, Suzuki) demonstrated that even at the back of the field, every single position is fiercely contested. They crossed the finish line almost simultaneously.