That was quite a statement. Julian Puffe clocked the second-fastest lap of the day on the new asphalt at the Autodrom Most during free practice for the IDM Superbike 1000 on his BMW M 1000 RR. The 25-year-old from Team GERT56 surged ahead in one fell swoop and, with a time of 1:35.356, finished just under half a second behind Bastien Mackels (SWPN/Yamaha).
Puffe flashed his broad, toothpaste-ad smile for the first time in a long while. “It’s been two years since I last had a spot in the top 5. It was here in Most that the whole drama began back in 2019.” Puffe, who finished as runner-up in the premier class that year, went on to experience a steady decline. When he couldn’t secure a starting spot for 2021 and his career was in danger of falling apart completely, he found a home at GERT56 as a development and test driver. The fact that he has since been able to take the spot vacated by the ailing Lucy Glöckner could, in the best-case scenario, be a breakthrough moment.
Puffe sees the 21 points from the season opener as more a matter of luck. “In the first race, I had exactly the right tires on for the tire strategy. In the second race, I started from pole position thanks to the reverse grid and was able to manage that advantage for a while.” Before that, not everything had gone as hoped. Puffe explains: “We struggled with the bike’s setup. This is a new project for suspension manufacturer WP, and for the team—which has previously competed in the World Endurance Championship—as well.”
A subsequent two-day test in Most marked a turning point. “We worked on the geometry and the setup. The guys analyzed an incredible amount of data. It’s crazy, but the bike feels totally different now. And I didn’t even think my fast lap was that great.” But Puffe knows: “That was just free practice. The races are what matter. But today, I don’t care about that. I’m just glad to be back at the very top of the timesheets.”