“Hello, we’re back to normal,” exclaimed Alessandro Polita, who finished fifth in last year’s IDM Superbike 1000 class, over the weekend, adding: “We did a four-day test with the new Honda, first at Oschersleben and then at the Lausitzring.” Over Pentecost, the Holzhauer Racing Promotion (HRP) team found itself among crowds of amateur riders who, after the COVID-19 lockdown, had been just as eager for the first track day of the motorcycle season. What’s currently going on with Alex Polita, new team member Julian Puffe, and the Fireblade CBR 1000 RR-R?
It was the very first ride on the new motorcycle. Team manager Jens Holzhauer has spent the last few weeks installing footrests, handlebars, and various machined parts made in-house. The delivered electronics kit is based in part on the previous model. What’s missing are fairing and crash parts. “But the motorcycles are 80 percent finished,” Holzhauer assures us, adding: “We just wanted to get everything up and running for now. The data recording system is also new.”
For the team manager, the focus was on questions quite different from lap times. How does the Fireblade handle? What’s actually going on there? Which tires are best suited for it? Last but not least, as an authorized Honda dealer, Holzhauer also wants to sell a lot of Fireblades.
By the end of the day, one thing was clear: the new motorcycle is significantly better than its predecessor. “And it’s brutally fast.” Julian Puffe was even faster on it at one point than he was on the BMW a year ago. Still, the Schleiz native prefers to play it down: “Well, you can’t really make any definitive statements yet—the wind plays a role too—but the Honda really is damn fast.”
Holzhauer calls his team the “Dream Team.” Polita and Puffe respect each other. The 24-year-old from Schleizer Dreieck and the 36-year-old Italian, who is celebrating his birthday today, are like father and son. “Alex takes plenty of time for Julian. Their lap times were identical, down to a tenth of a second.”
And Holzhauer sees a great many parallels between the two and former HRP riders. “Alex reminds me very much of Karl Muggeridge, who rode with a lot of power. Julian is like Martin Bauer, who got a lot out of the bike through his riding technique.” The Australian Karl Muggeridge won the IDM Superbike 1000 title in 2010, while the Austrian Martin Bauer dominated the premier class in 2007 and 2008.