Ilya Mikhalchik is back in the lead. The two-time IDM Superbike 1000 champion has already won the first race. The Ukrainian star rider from the EGS-alpha-Van Zon-BMW team won by a respectable margin in the Dutch OW Cup in Assen, the national championship. And the Eastern European native has temporarily chosen Belgium as his adopted home in Central Europe, moving closer to his team boss, Werner Daemen.
Because he lives in Belgium, Ilya Mikhalchik avoids many of the problems associated with travel restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Does he have to quarantine when returning home, or vice versa? That question no longer arises. The Ukrainian is here. With a lap time of 1:41.158, he immediately secured pole position at the TT Circuit in Assen and went on to win the race. However, as a guest driver, he did not earn any points.
That wasn’t actually all that important to Mikhalchik. The 24-year-old’s main goal was to test his BMW S 1000 RR. The fact that this turned into a few fast laps and resulted in a race win was all the better. The mixed weather didn’t prevent Mikhalchik from improving his lap time compared to last year’s IDM race in Assen, which he had also won. Pepijn Bijsterbosch finished second; Mikhalchik will face him again soon in the IDM.
Mikhalchik believes he is ready to make the leap to the Superbike World Championship. “I’ll stay here in Central Europe until the end of the year,” he says. “If I got the chance to race in the World Championship now, I’d definitely put up a good fight.” Mikhalchik will leave no stone unturned.