Because regular riders Julian Puffe and Toni Finsterbusch are injured, Team GERT56 was set to field Stefan Kerschbaumer for the IDM finale at Hockenheim from September 23 to 25, 2022. However, the Austrian withdrew at the last minute on Wednesday evening due to a COVID-19 infection. Now Dominik Vincon, a fast endurance racer, will be competing in the IDM Superbike class.
Kerschbaumer’s positive COVID-19 test on Wednesday presented the team with an immense challenge. Time was extremely tight to find a new rider by the weekend. It was a stroke of luck that Dominik Vincon agreed to step in. Not only is he a familiar face from the IDM Superbike series who knows how to handle the BMW M 1000 R like a pro, but the 31-year-old also competed just a week ago alongside Pepijn Bijsterbosch and Bartłomiej Lewandowski at the Bol d’Or in Le Castellet.
Team boss Karsten Wolf proved to be a rock in the midst of the turmoil. “I probably only stayed so calm because of a mix of gallows humor and resignation. When Kerschi called me on Wednesday evening, I already knew he wasn’t just making small talk. I already had COVID in the back of my mind and jokingly asked about it. Bullseye! That was on Wednesday evening at 9:00 p.m. So there was only one night left until our departure for Hockenheim! Luckily, we found Dominik Vincon, whom we know from our EWC days when he raced for NRT48 and LRP Poland. He was immediately willing to help us and is excited to be racing in the IDM again. All that was left was to sort out the exemption, which, fortunately, was also taken care of on Thursday morning.”