In addition to its Superbike campaign in 2022 with Bastien Mackels, Kawasaki Weber-Motos Racing will also compete in the IDM Supersport . Micky Winkler from Schleiz, Thuringia, and Luca de Vleeschauwer from Belgium will be racing for the Swiss team. Both are moving up from the IDM Supersport class. The 19-year-old De Vleeschauwer finished the 2021 season on a Kawasaki Ninja 400 in third place in the junior class, while Winkler, who is the same age, finished fifth overall.
Even though the two Supersport now Supersport to the higher-displacement IDM Supersport class as rookies, the motorcycles aren’t entirely new to them. “A few years ago, I already rode 600cc bikes in the Spanish Moto2 class. I’m trying to draw on that experience,” says de Vleeschauwer, adding: “I’ve also been training regularly on 600cc bikes for the past three years. I was just in Spain to prepare for the season.” The Belgian has set some goals for himself: “To learn as much as possible in the first half of the season and consistently finish in the points. In the second half of the season, I want to be up there with the leaders, and if I can pull off a top-5 finish, that would be simply fantastic as a rookie.”
Winkler (pictured left), who lives just a few meters from the Schleizer Dreieck, hasn’t ridden a 600-cc motorcycle in a long time. “The competition and the level of racing are very, very strong. I’m going to try to use 2022 as a learning year to further develop both the bike and myself. A few top-ten finishes would be a dream come true. I’m training significantly more now than I have in the past. We’ll also be heading to Valencia for the official IDM test. But first, I have surgery coming up—a nail still needs to be removed from my body.”
De Vleeschauwer and Winkler will compete this season on Kawasaki ZX-6Rs. Last year, French rider Valentin Debise finished as runner-up on this motorcycle, securing three victories.