That’s how fast things can change: Markus Reiterberger (BCC Racing) wins the second round of the IDM Superbike 1000 on his favorite track, with Ilya Mikhalchik (EGS-alpha-Van Zon-BMW) finishing second. Valentin Debise (Kawasaki Weber-Motos Racing) finishes ninth, and championship leader Dominic Schmitter (Hess Racing) only eleventh.
Within 24 hours, the entire standings in the IDM premier class have been completely reshuffled.
The reverse grid—which rearranges the starting positions of the top nine based on the results of the first race—worked in Julian Puffe’s (GERT56) favor. He started from the middle of the front row. A home victory from that position would have been the Schleiz native’s dream, but the podium spots went to Reiterberger, Mikhalchik, and Florian Alt (Wilbers-BMW-Racing).
Puffe led the race for two laps, but then Reiterberger closed in. Lap three became a turning point: Puffe made a mistake that caused a pileup. Alt had to swerve to avoid it, which meant cutting across the field. Although the 25-year-old was able to rejoin the pack, he lost a lot of ground, and the battle for the win was hopeless from seventh place. That didn’t completely slow Alt down; rather, he launched a remarkable comeback that even took him past Puffe into third place. Puffe finished fourth, with Luca Grünwald crossing the finish line just half a second later.
Bastien Mackels (Team SWPN), who was supposed to be in the thick of the title race, never really got into the groove. The Belgian was forced to retire during the race due to technical issues. Valentin Debise managed to pull off a solid performance this time, finishing in ninth place. Dominic Schmitter secured his lead in the standings with an eleventh-place finish. The Swiss rider remains in first place with 85 points. The new runner-up is Mikhalchik (79 points), who made a smooth charge to the front. Debise has slipped to third place with 75 points. Mackels and Vladimir Leonov (Hertrampf MO Yamaha Racing Team) are next. They are followed by Alex Polita (HRP Honda).
Even though BMW riders won in Schleiz, the standings remain very close between the brands.
Reiterberger celebrated his triumphant return to the IDM Superbike 1000 with a massive burnout that sent smoke billowing across the entire Buchhübel circuit. Although the 27-year-old won’t be crowned champion—since he joined the series too late and will miss the race at Assen—he will play a key role in determining who takes the title.
Race 2 Results:
1. Markus REITERBERGER (GER/BMW)
2. Ilya MIKHALCHIK (UKR/BMW)
3. Florian ALT (GER/BMW)
4. Julian PUFFE (GER/BMW)
5. Luca GRÜNWALD (GER/BMW)
6. Vladimir LEONOV (RUS/Yamaha)
7. Alessandro POLITA (ITA/Honda)
8. Marc MOSER (GER/Yamaha)
9. Valentin DEBISE (FRA/Kawasaki)
10. Jan MOHR (AUT/BMW)
11. Dominic SCHMITTER (SUI/Yamaha)
12. Marco FETZ (GER/BMW)
13. Toni FINSTERBUSCH (GER/BMW)