IDM SSP 300: Walid Khan Outshines His Rivals

The battle for victory in the first race of the IDM Supersport at Most could hardly have been closer. The gap between the top three riders—who battled neck and neck across the finish line within 27 thousandths of a second—was barely a finger’s width. In the end, a repeat winner emerged. Walid Khan (Freudenberg KTM – Paligo Racing) managed to win the first race, just as he had exactly one year earlier. This makes him the first rider to win a race for the second time this season.

The Dutch rider took the lead right from the start and set a very high pace from the outset. However, his closest pursuer, Marvin Siebdrath (Füsport – RT Motorsports by SKM – Kawasaki), as well as his teammates and fellow points chasers Leo Rammerstorfer and Lennox Lehmann (Freudenberg KTM – Paligo Racing), refused to be shaken off. Hungarian Máté Számadó (Hungarian Racing Engineering Team) also closed in on the leading group and applied pressure from behind.

After the final turn before the finish line, Khan took advantage of the slipstream provided by the leader, Siebdrath, which ultimately helped him secure the victory. Right up until the finish line, it was impossible to predict who within that group would win the race. “It was a really strong race,” Khan said afterward. It was clear from the look on his face that he was more than happy with this hard-fought victory.

He narrowly missed out on pole position and narrowly missed out on the win: that’s pretty much how Marvin Siebdrath’s day went. The Kawasaki rider fought tooth and nail against the orange dominance of the three KTMs, which surrounded him like a ring of fire from all sides during the race. But he held his ground and was satisfied in the end: “It was an awesome race with tons of battles. That was really fun,” said Siebdrath, who was able to score important points for the championship.

Lennox Lehmann would have liked to see all the podium spots go to KTM. “That was at least one of our goals,” said the two-time champion from 2020 and 2021 in the parc fermé. However, he is very happy with third place—and with the race itself, which served as the perfect preparation for the World Championship weekend in Most in four weeks.

Leo Rammerstorfer narrowly missed the podium, finishing in fourth place. Behind him were Hungarian rider Máté Számadó and World Championship rider and IDM guest starter Troy Alberto (Füsport – RT Motorsports by SKM – Kawasaki).

Toni Erhard (Roto-Store BRT), who was able to compete for the first time this season after a long injury layoff, finished in 14th place. Valentin Folger (MS-Motorshop – Powered by Dieter Briese) snagged the final point with a 15th-place finish.

The second race of the IDM Supersport will start on Sunday at 1:15 p.m. and will be streamed live for free.

IDM SSP 300, Race 1 Results: