The winner on Saturday was the same as on Sunday: Local hero Glenn Van Straalen (NIWA Racing) had the TT Circuit in Assen under control and won both races in the IDM Supersport class, although the second race had to be decided by a photo finish.
German riders have always had a tough time holding their own against the locals on the track in the Netherlands. Patrick “Pax” Hobelsberger (Bonovo Action by MGM Racing) fared the best this weekend. A victory, however, eluded him.
Before the second race, he had only dared to dream of finishing in the points. That he ended up in third place behind Valentin Debise (Kawasaki Weber-Motos Racing) exceeded all expectations.
The German rider had crashed almost unnoticed during the morning warm-up. The bike was a total write-off, except for the drivetrain. The whole thing happened at 190 km/h. “If the Superbike race hadn’t been stopped and restarted, my mechanics wouldn’t have been able to fix the bike in time,” said Hobelsberger, for whom the schedule change worked out perfectly. “The handlebars were straight, but the wheel was crooked. It hit the triple clamp. I was amazed that they managed to fix that mess—that’s all it was—at all. But if anyone can do it, it’s my mechanics,” the Bavarian explained happily. On the starting grid, he gave the handlebars a firm tap to straighten them out a bit. During the race, the 24-year-old even briefly took the lead. Finishing third after the ordeal he’d just been through was, for once, not a disappointment for Pax, but a precious reward.
Valentin Debise had worked his way up from eighth on the grid and, just like yesterday, showed no mercy. “I was the fastest and shut the door on my opponents.” The Frenchman even thought he had won, but after the race was reviewed, he was just 0.001 seconds behind Van Straalen.
Hobelsberger and Debise remain in the lead in the IDM Supersport overall standings. Pax extended his lead over the Frenchman by another three points. He now leads with 162 points. Debise has 129. Max Enderlein (M32 Racing) had to give up third place to Van Straalen, who went all out at Assen.
IDM Supersport , Round 2:
1. Glenn VAN STRAALEN (NLD/Kawasaki)
2. Valentin DEBISE (FRA/Kawasaki)
3. Patrick HOBELSBERGER (GER/Yamaha)
4. Sander KROEZE (NLD/Yamaha)
5. Max ENDERLEIN (GER/Yamaha)
6. Rob HARTOG (NLD/Kawasaki)
7. Kevin WAHR (GER/Yamaha)
8. Thomas GRADINGER (AUT/Yamaha)
9. Jeffrey BUIS (NLD/Kawasaki)
10. Andreas KOFLER (AUT/Kawasaki)