The second Superbike race marked a milestone in GERT56 history. Toni Finsterbusch and Julian Puffe secured a one-two finish. Although Markus Reiterberger was the first to cross the finish line, the Bavarian rider was penalized for overtaking under yellow flags and demoted five places.
Things were moving at a breakneck pace in the premier class. Just as in the first race, Florian Alt was at the center of the action. For him, the race was already over before it had even begun. He raised his hand on the starting grid. The noises coming from the bike didn’t bode well. As it turned out later, the electronics had failed.
After 16 laps, however, it wasn't the dominant Markus Reiterberger who took the win this time, even though he once again dominated the race. He was penalized five places for an overtaking maneuver under yellow flags.
The victory went to Toni Finsterbusch and the GERT56 team—and it was a one-two finish, as Julian Puffe came in second. It really hit home for the team’s heavyweight boss, Karsten Wolf. First, Puffe’s podium finish in the first race, then the slip-up, and now this combination. Exactly 14 years after his first amateur race at the Lausitzring, his team won today as a duo in the IDM premier class. The second year for the team from Pirna, Saxony, has started with a bang. “If someone had told me that before the weekend, I would have walked away. That’s just unbelievable. It’s amazing,” said Puffe, completely over the moon. Winner Finsterbusch didn’t even realize what was happening at first. “I had seen that Markus Reiterberger had overtaken during the yellow flag phase, but by the end I hadn’t even thought about it anymore.”
Finsterbusch started from 11th position on the reverse grid but was already back in sixth place after two laps. Unlike in the first race, the field was bunched up tightly, so it wasn’t easy to get through.”
For a long time, Bastien Mackels had been putting on a show at the front on his Weber-Kawasaki. He brought some excitement to the race, weaving the green ZX-10RR from one corner to the next, knowing he had five BMW riders from the BCC-alpha Racing-Van Zon team and GERT56 right on his tail. The Belgian stayed at the front until halfway through the race, then had to admit defeat.
Finally, Jan Mohr, who had finished third in the first race, managed to squeeze past Mackels as well. That secured another podium finish for the Austrian driver from the BBC-alpha Racing-Van Zon team. He has never been this successful before. “I’m sorry about what happened to Markus, but we’ll take the points.”
Class rookies Sandro Wagner (motoLife), Hikari Okubo (Holzhauer Racing Promotion), Rob Hartog (Team SWPN), and Paul Fröde (Holzhauer Racing Promotion) also finished in the points. Once again, every motorcycle brand represented in the IDM Superbike had at least one rider in the top ten.
Ergebnis IDM Superbike, 2. Lauf:
1. Toni FINSTERBUSCH (GER), BMW
2. Julian PUFFE (GER), BMW
3. Jan MOHR (AUT), BMW
4. Bastien MACKELS (BEL), Kawasaki
5. Pepijn BIJSTERBOSCH (NED), BMW
6. Markus REITERBERGER (GER), BMW
7. Kamil KRZEMIEN (POL), BMW
8. Sandro WAGNER (GER), BMW
9. Hikari OKUBO (JPN), Honda
10. Daniel KARTHEININGER (GER), Yamaha