Last weekend was a painful one for Alessandro Polita. The IDM rider, who is currently tenth in the top-tier Superbike 1000 class, had to undergo surgery on Sunday to remove his inflamed appendix due to abdominal pain. As a result, the Italian will not be competing in the IDM finale at Hockenheim this coming weekend.
Polita had already broken his collarbone during the last round of the IDM at the Red Bull Ring in August. However, he didn’t make a big deal out of it, announcing instead that he intended to race at Hockenheim regardless. The 37-year-old has now had to scrap those plans.
The HRP team had already been looking for a replacement rider for the Honda CBR 1000 RR-R and found him in Luca Vitali. The 29-year-old is a fellow Italian from Polita; he hails from Rimini and has already stood on the podium several times in the Italian Superbike Championship while riding for Honda.
Guest rider Jan Bühn is on board as planned. The Hockenheimring is his home track, and the rider from Baden hopes to push the Superbike well up the field here.