The first IDM Superbike 1000 race on the final weekend at Hockenheim was a spectacle at its finest. Before Ilya Mikhalchik (Alpha Racing-Van Zon-BMW) could add to his tally of victories in the premier class of the International German Motorcycle Championship, nerve-wracking scenes unfolded at the front, the back, and in the middle of the pack.
Marc Moser (MGM Racing Performance, Yamaha) and Marvin Fritz (Bayer Bikerbox, Yamaha) both got off to an excellent start from the front row. Bastien Mackels (Wilbers-BMW-Racing) got off to an even better start. The Belgian shot to the front like an arrow from fourth on the grid on the first lap. Two-time champion Mikhalchik, who had posted the second-fastest time in qualifying, started only in eighth place. The Ukrainian had a tire that was much too hard on his BMW and was initially pushed back through the field. “Around the middle of the race, I thought, ‘This isn’t going to work out today,’” Mikhalchik reported later. We all know how it turned out.
Because the NASCAR stock cars were at the Hockenheimring last weekend, there was still a lot of unwanted rubber on the track. From the wild pack featuring Mackels, Fritz, Moser, Dominic Schmitter (Hess Racing, Yamaha), Erwan Nigon (Kawasaki Weber-Motos Racing Team), Jan Bühn (EGS Moto Racing, BMW), Pepijn Bijsterbosch (Team Dutch Comfort Houses, BMW), Mikhalchik, Ricardo Brink (SWPN, Yamaha), Julian Puffe (Alpha Racing-Van Zon-BMW), and Toni Finsterbusch (Team Suzuki Mayer), small groups soon began to form.
Mackels, Fritz, and Moser joined forces at the front. Schmitter turned the trio into a quartet. Mackels and Fritz were able to pull away, but in the end, Mikhalchik had worked his way to the front. In the last half-lap, he gave it everything he had. It was unbelievable: in a spot where he had never tried it before, the 23-year-old dared to attack. Victory. Fritz finished second, Mackels third.
Alex Polita's performance on the HRP-Honda was also spectacular. Despite an injured hand and a foot with four fractures, the Italian finished in the points.