Eight wins in eight races—that’s the record of the new IDM champion, Jonas Folger. The former MotoGP rider dominated the top class of German road racing throughout the season. Although he didn’t start from pole position in the Hockenheim finale and also had to start further back on the reverse grid for the second race with his Yamaha YZF-R1M, the 27-year-old Bavarian from Team Bonovo action by MGM Racing remained unbeatable.
Toni Finsterbusch (GERT56, BMW) initially took the lead. The Saxon was then overtaken by Dominic Schmitter (Hess Racing, Yamaha). But the Swiss rider didn't stay in the lead for long either: Folger had worked his way to the front and won the race after 18 laps with a 4.242-second lead.
Behind him, Stefan Kerschbaumer (BMW Racing Team BMW), Ilya Mickhalchik (EGS-alpha-Van Zon-BMW), Daniel Kartheininger (HPC-Power Suzuki), and Vladimir Leonov (EGS-alpha-Van Zon-BMW) also made their presence felt. Leonov and Folger got in each other’s way right at the start, causing Leonov to swerve and lose several positions. But the Russian fought his way back tenaciously and ultimately even finished fourth behind Folger, Schmitter, and Ilya Mikhalchik.
The two-time IDM Superbike 1000 champion from Ukraine had finished on the podium in seven of eight races this year. Mikhalchik is a worthy runner-up. Schmitter finished third overall and, in the final race, knocked Florian Alt off the podium; Alt was not at Hockenheim that weekend, as he was fulfilling his obligations in the World Endurance Championship.
Finsterbusch was forced to retire during the race due to a mechanical failure. Marc Moser delivered a strong performance. He achieved by far his best result of the season, finishing in fourth and seventh place. The same was true for Kerschbaumer, who finished in sixth and fifth place. The Austrian had barely made his presence felt until then and only really got into his stride toward the end.
After the second race, Kawasaki was celebrating once again. Valentin Debise had replaced Frenchman Erwan Nigon on the Weber-Motos Racing Team. Nigon is likely experiencing a whirlwind of emotions on his 37th birthday today: it wasn’t him, but his compatriot who secured Kawasaki’s only podium finish of the season. Had Debise earned points, he would have racked up a total of 26 points this weekend. As a guest rider, however, he came away empty-handed. Nigon’s best result in 2020 was 16 points at the Sachsenring.
Alessandro Polita secured a top-ten finish for Honda in the final race.
IDM Superbike 1000 Hockenheim, Race 2
Results
Distance: 18 laps (3.692 kilometers) = 66.456 km
1. Jonas Folger (Bonovo Action by MGM Racing) Yamaha in 26:23.303 min. (153.199 km/h)
2. Dominic Schmitter (Hess Racing) Yamaha, +5.242 sec.
3. Ilya Mikhalchik (UKR, EGS-alpha-Van-Zon-BMW) BMW, +0.193 sec.
4. Vladimir Leonov (UKR, EGS-alpha-Van-Zon-BMW) BMW, +14.226 sec.
5. Stefan Kerschbaumer (AUT, BBC Racing Team) BMW, +2.910 sec.
6. Marc Moser (Bonovo Action by MGM Racing) Yamaha, +0.134 sec.
Fastest lap: Folger in 1:26.758 min (153.199 km/h)