With a strong overall team performance, Luca de Vleeschauwer (18, B) and Marvin Siebdrath (16, Wildenfels, both RT Motorsports by SKM-Kawasaki) dominated qualifying for the second of four IDM races. As a result, the team led by Rob Vennegoor and Frank Krekeler secured the top two starting positions for the junior class races at the Sachsenring.
De Vleeschauwer, who set the fastest time in practice, is already familiar with the 3.671-kilometer race track from his previous appearances in the Northern Talent Cup (2017) and the KTM RC 390 Cup (2016). “It’s one of my favorite tracks,” says the Kawasaki rider. “I especially love the long, long corners here.” In the second qualifying session, he manages to improve his lap time even further and is now 0.244 seconds ahead of his teammate Marvin Siebdrath. The 16-year-old talent from Wildenfels near Zwickau achieves his best practice result to date at his home race.
The team’s strong trio, rounded out by Colin Velthuizen (16, NL, all RT Motorsports by SKM-Kawasaki), managed to edge out Melvin van der Voort (15, Team SWPN) on a Yamaha in the second qualifying session. The championship leader improved his time by 0.1 seconds in the morning practice session, securing a spot on the front row. Colin Velthuizen, on the other hand, was unable to improve and dropped back to fourth place.
He will therefore start from the second row alongside Lennox Lehmann (14, Dresden, Freudenberg SMC WorldSSP Academy) on a KTM at his home race. The highly talented rider from Saxony is the brand’s top rider in the field, having qualified in fifth place.
The second row is rounded out by Ruben Bijman (NL, 16, Pearle Gebben Racing) on a Yamaha, who qualified sixth. The fifth-place rider in the championship, Petr Svoboda (CZE, 17, WRP Wepal Racing), also on a Yamaha, drops to seventh place. Next up is Harry Khouri (AUS, 16, Benjan Racing Team) on a Kawasaki. For him, it’s all about damage control at the Sachsenring: The speedy Aussie had already crashed during free practice, sustaining abrasions on his back. He had to sit out the first qualifying session and achieved his minimum goal of finishing in the top ten with an eighth-place finish.
Behind Khoury, who won an IDM race, are Thom Molenaar (NL, 19, Molenaar Racing) and former champion Toni Erhard (Schwarzenberg-Pöhlau, 19, Kiefer Racing), both on KTMs. Last year’s runner-up, Rick Dunnik (NL, 18, Zuwi-HDRacing) on a Yamaha, is having a disappointing race. Currently second in the championship standings, he is in 17th place, nearly two seconds behind de Vleeschauwer’s fastest time.
Things aren’t going as planned for Moto3 Junior World Championship rider Dirk Geiger (18, Mannheim, Freudenberg SMC WorldSSP Academy) on his KTM either. In the highly competitive IDM talent pool, the newcomer has to settle for 20th place. On the track near his regular team, PrüstelGP, he’ll have to hope for an improvement in the second qualifying session.
The first race starts today (September 8) at 1:40 p.m. and, like all the other races, will be streamed live at: www.idm.de/live/.
IDM Supersport Sachsenring, Qualifying Sessions 1 & 2
The Top Six
- Luca de Vleeschauwer (NL, RT Motorsports by SKM-Kawasaki), Kawasaki, 1:32.247 min.
- Marvin Siebdrath (Wildenfels, RT Motorsports by SKM-Kawasaki), Kawasaki, +0.244 sec.
- Melvin van der Voort (Netherlands, Team SWPN), Yamaha, +0.585 sec.
- Colin Velthuizen (NL, RT Motorsports by SKM-Kawasaki), Kawasaki, +0.678 sec.
- Lennox Lehmann (Dresden, Freudenberg SMC WorldSSP Academy), KTM, +0.758 sec.
- Ruben Bijman (NL, Pearle Gebben Racing), Yamaha, +1.004 sec.