Everyone had anticipated everything—except this: Markus Reiterberger has clinched his fourth IDM Superbike championship title early in his career. Florian Alt’s unbelievable crash threw all other predictions out the window. The fact that the title would be decided so quickly came as a complete surprise.
This race at the TT Circuit Assen will be remembered. After the start from the reverse grid, things went off without a hitch. However, when Rob Hartog (Team SWPN, Yamaha), Loris Baz (Bonovo Action BMW), and Leandro Mercado (HRP-Honda) refused to back down and tried to enter a corner side-by-side, the situation became tense. All three rode straight into the run-off area and rejoined the race on the next section of the track. The incident was scrutinized by race control, but no further action was taken. The whole thing happened right in front of Markus Reiterberger (BCC-alpha-Van Zon-BMW), who at that moment didn’t know where to go. The 29-year-old Bavarian was perplexed and later recounted with refreshing clarity: “I thought: Shit, what do I do now?” He did the only right thing: keep going and win the race.
He also held off Loris Baz in the final third of the race, who had led for much of the race. The two BMW riders battled it out for the win. Florian Alt (Wilbers-BMW), who had been well on his way in the first four laps to repeat his stellar performance from the first race, had to park his M 1000 RR in the gravel on the fifth lap: the next technical failure for the rider and team—now the third. Alt lowered his head and let it fall onto the tank. No one would have wanted to be in his shoes right now. Although he had written off the championship victory due to the dramatic start to the season with two retirements, he could at least have prevented Reiterberger from clinching the title early in Assen. The stated goal was also to defeat the now four-time champion at least once in the remaining races. And that’s exactly how it will stay.
Pepijn Bijsterbosch (BCC-alpha-Van Zon-BMW) battled it out with Mercado for third place lap after lap. Rob Hartog, who started from pole position thanks to the reverse grid, didn’t stay at the front for long and finished fifth. And finally, Bastien Mackels (Kawasaki Weber-Motos Racing) crossed the finish line. The Belgian is simply not in top form right now. Leon Haslam had filled in for him at Most due to his injured foot and secured a podium finish on the Kawasaki. Mackels wants to match that performance, but he’s not quite ready to do so yet. That’s weighing on him even more.
IDM Superbike, Round 2:
1. Markus REITERBERGER (GER), BMW
2. Loris BAZ (FRA), BMW
3. Leandro MERCADO (ARG), Honda
4. Pepijn BIJSTERBOSCH (NED), BMW
5. Rob HARTOG (NLD), Yamaha
6. Bastien MACKELS (BEL), Kawasaki
7. Kamil KRZEMIEN (POL), BMW
8. Daniel RUBIN (GER), Yamaha
9. Paul FRÖDE (GER), Honda
10. Sandro WAGNER (GER), BMW