Last Sunday, Julian Puffe celebrated his 24th birthday. Less than a week later, he finds himself facing a shambles. Despite finishing as runner-up in the IDM Superbike 1000 championship, the man with the toothpaste smile has lost his spot on the alpha Racing-Van Zon-BMW team.
Midweek, the Schleiz native was still in the dark. “Team boss Werner Daemen wanted to see what’s possible for 2020 if I can come up with the required budget,” Puffe explains. “But we rarely get in touch. Werner has a lot on his plate. In the meantime, I’m keeping myself in shape.” It was also unclear until now what would become of his contract with the BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team in the World Endurance Championship. “It’s a strange situation,” Puffe shrugged.
It is now clear: Puffe will not be continuing with either team. Werner Daemen will keep two-time IDM Superbike 1000 champion Ilya Mikhalchik on board. Furthermore, Vladimir Leonov is on the team, as is Tim Eby, who entered the premier class with his own team in 2019, scored nine points as a rookie, and will now compete in his second Superbike season with the BMW factory team.
The effort put in by the team is enormous. According to Daemen, signing another rider would be beyond their means. Puffe knows that a lot went wrong at the end of the 2019 season. It all came to a head. After losing the lead in the IDM Superbike 1000 overall standings, the S1000 RR rider was plagued by crashes and technical issues. In the end, he finished second, 115 points behind his teammate Ilya Mikhalchik.
Werner Daemen says: “Julian wasn’t in top form at the start of the FIM Endurance World Championship either. He wasn’t fast enough.” That’s why the Belgian is bringing favorites Ilya Mikhalchik, Markus Reiterberger, and Kenny Foray to the next event, the 8-hour race in Malaysia from December 13–15, 2019. “We’re only allowed to name three riders in Sepang,” explains Daemen, “so I have to take the fastest ones.”
Puffe, who secured two IDM Superbike 1000 wins and six additional podium finishes in 2019, is now doing everything he can to join another team. “The situation is urgent.”