With a victory in Supersport second IDM Supersport at Assen, Sander Kroeze (MGM Racing Performance, Yamaha) killed two birds with one stone. He took home the biggest trophy. But even more importantly, the Dutch rider has moved up to third place in the overall championship standings. The weekend was a complete success for the Yamaha rider.
Marc Buchner (Buchner Motorsport, Yamaha), winner of the first race, finished second this time. In a complete surprise, Dominik Rubin (Rubin Racing) took third place on the podium. By the end of the race, there was no longer any jostling for positions; the standings had long since been decided. Tom Kohnen didn’t make it through the first lap. Champion Max Enderlein (Freudenberg WorldSSP Academy, Yamaha) crashed out after four laps. Henrik Müller dropped out after six laps. Rubin’s brother Daniel, the more successful member of the family so far, was in fourth place for a long time, but he didn’t return from the eleventh lap. Martin Vugrinec (UNIOR Racing), who had long been Enderlein’s biggest rival in the title race, also faltered in the second race. The Croatian was in sixth place when he suddenly dropped all the way back to 15th.
All of this had a huge impact on the IDM Supersport . Enderlein leads with 222 points and has already clinched the title. Nothing can stop him now. It’s only behind him that the battle is still heating up. Marc Buchner is now in second place with 157 points. Sander Kroeze and Martin Vugrinec are tied for third and fourth place, respectively, with 148 points each. Tom Toparis, who stayed home because of a concurrent round of the Australian Championship—which he leads—has slipped to fifth place. He’ll be back on the grid at Hockenheim. At the IDM finale, the deck will be completely reshuffled once again.
In the DMSB Superstock 600 Cup—which is held as part of the IDM Supersport series but is scored separately—Stefan Ströhlein (Neumann Racing, Yamaha) has clinched the overall title early. Milan Merckelbagh (MGM Racing Performance, Yamaha) won Sunday’s race ahead of Paul Fröde (ADAC Sachsen, Honda) and Jan Schmidt (Yamaha). A fourth-place finish was enough for Ströhlein to clinch the cup title. The battle for second and third place in the overall standings remains dramatic. Schmidt and Fröde are separated by just a single point heading into the season finale at Hockenheim.
