An incredible performance by Markus Reiterberger, Loris Baz, and Florian Alt in the first race of the IDM Superbike series led straight to the podium at the TT Circuit in Assen. The Dutch riders were defeated on their home track.
Markus Reiterberger (BCC-alpha-Van Zon-BMW) celebrated his eighth victory in the ninth race of the season after 15 laps, even though he experienced chattering issues toward the end. “We’ll have to see if we can make some changes before the second race,” said the title favorite. “It was close at the end. We can definitely do better.”
Loris Baz (Bonovo Action), who posed a particular threat in the final meters, had struggled a bit in the first sector but dominated the final stretch. The Frenchman from the Bonovo Action team didn’t want to get involved in the title race, but he wasn’t about to sit out the battle for the podium spots either. The guest rider from the Superbike World Championship left no doubt about it. In the final corner—and his last chance to pass Reiti—the path was blocked. Trailing by just 46 thousandths of a second, Baz came up short on the BMW built to stock sport regulations.
What unfolded behind the scenes was the icing on the cake for the race. Florian Alt raced from the very back of the grid—starting in 19th place—all the way to the third step of the podium! Because he was using his fourth engine of the season, the Wilbers BMW Team rider had to start from the back of the grid. His goal: the podium. The comeback involved a lot of risk, but the 26-year-old was on a roll. Fast, flawless, efficient. After half a lap, Alt had already reached the middle of the field. The podium was always in his sights. It was no coincidence that the Wilbers team had completed more laps than anyone else in the Superbike class during the second qualifying session. That it was actually enough in the end was a tour de force. “Assen has always been our Achilles’ heel; we’ve worked incredibly hard on it,” said Alt, “and now we’re also using the new engine. In the last races, I didn’t stand a chance against Markus Reiterberger.”
Dutch rider Rob Hartog (Team SWPN, Yamaha), who started from the front row, was initially able to keep up, but then got into a battle with his compatriot Pepijn Bijsterbosch (BCC-alpha-Van Zon-BMW) and finished fourth. Only eleven riders crossed the finish line.
Daniel Rubin (Rubin Racing), Ricardo Brink (RR Socia Racing), Come Geenen (Vigenon Racing Team), and Leon Langstädtler (F73 Academy/Werk2 Racing Team by MCA) crashed early in the race. In the end, Kamil Krzemien (BCC-alpha-Van Zom-BMW), Jeroen Hilster (RR Socia Racing), Paul Fröde (Holzhauer Racing Promotion), and Bastien Mackels (Kawasaki Weber-Motos Racing) were also out of the race.
An update from the hospital regarding Julian Puffe (GERT56), who fell on Friday. “Unfortunately, I suffered a somewhat complicated fracture of the tibia and fibula, which was surgically repaired. It will now take some time for everything to get back on track.”
IDM Superbike, Round 1:
1. Markus REITERBERGER (GER), BMW
2. Loris BAZ (FRA), BMW
3. Florian ALT (GER), BMW
4. Rob HARTOG (NED), Yamaha
5. Pepijn BIJSTERBOSCH (NED), BMW
6. Leandro MERCADO (ARG), Honda
7. Max SCHMIDT (GER), Yamaha
8. Sandro WAGNER (GER), Yamaha
9. Philipp STEINMAYR (AUT)
10.Jonathan NESSJOEN (NOR), Yamaha
11.Björn STUPPI (GER), BMW