Things were looking good for defending champion Max Enderlein, who arrived at the Lausitz circuit as the championship leader. Setting the fastest time in the first qualifying session was a relief for the 23-year-old Yamaha rider (Freudenberg SMC WorldSSP Academy).
Enderlein had contacted his good friend Toni Finsterbusch beforehand to ask him to step in as a mechanic at the Lausitzring. Unlike in previous years, Finsterbusch is no longer competing in the IDM Superbike 1000 this season, but is focusing exclusively on the World Endurance Championship. Two weeks ago, he won the 24-hour race at Le Mans in the Stocksport class alongside Lucy Glöckner and Stefan Kerschbaumer. For Enderlein, the Saxon hopped in his car right after work at the family business and drove to Lausitz.
It was fate that Enderlein had to cede pole position to Martin Vugrinec in the second qualifying session: engine failure. Vugrinec set the fastest lap time of 1:42.366 minutes, beating the Saxon by three-tenths of a second. After a rough start to the season in Assen, the Croatian is now counting only on individual results.
Karel Hanika will start the race from third position. Luca Grünwald will lead the second row. He is the fastest Kawasaki rider behind the three Yamaha riders.
Dion Otten, who left the Supersport 300 World Championship to move up to the 600cc class, was absent from qualifying. The Dutch rider had collided with his compatriot Glenn van Straalen (Kawasaki) during free practice yesterday. The Yamaha was repaired, but Otten was still suffering from a headache today and wasn’t feeling well.
In the IDM Superstock 600 class, newcomer Jan-Ole Jähnig took the win ahead of Tim Holtz and Per Behmer. Behmer had already shown promise at the Sachsenring and now seems to be on the right track.
Qualifying Results, IDM Supersport 600
1. Martin Vugrinec (CRO), Yamaha, 1:42.366 min
2. Max Enderlein (D), Yamaha, 1:42.679 min
3. Karel Hanika (CZ), Yamaha, 1:42.929 min
Qualifying Results, IDM Superstock 600
1. Jan-Ole Jähnig (GER), Honda, 1:44.498 min
2. Tim Holtz (GER), Yamaha, 1:45.780 min
3. Per Behmer (GER), Yamaha, 1:45.800 min