That wraps up the 2022 season in the IDM premier class. Florian Alt made his—and the Wilbers-BMW team’s—big dream come true in the final Superbike race of the year. The 26-year-old M 1000 RR rider once again defeated four-time champion Markus Reiterberger (BCC-alpha-Van Zon-BMW), who faced a real onslaught from all sides at the end of the season.
After the reverse-grid start, Reiti was already behind Alt after just the second of 18 laps, but only seconds later, the picture looked completely different. Reiterberger led ahead of Kamil Krzemien (BCC-alpha-Van Zon-BMW) and Alt. The Pole rose to the occasion after finishing third in the first race. During the break, his ears had been burning from all the phone calls. It seemed as if he had called everyone in Poland. And now, in his next passing move, he even outmaneuvered the great champion and his own teammate. Krzemien was leading an IDM race for the first time in his career!
That didn’t last long. Reiterberger and Alt made short work of him, and then Krzemien was out of the lead again. On the fourth-to-last lap, Alt took the lead for the first time. That was his chance to finally beat Reiterberger one last time this year. It got damn close. The sector times of the two rivals were getting closer and closer. Reiti fought back with everything he had. The Bavarian is a force to be reckoned with, but so is the rider from North Rhine-Westphalia. In the end, 1.111 seconds separated them. Alt had achieved his goal in the final race of the year in the premier class. You could see how much it meant to him. “Overall, it was an emotional weekend,” he stated, adding, “The conditions were different in every turn. In the last four laps, I told myself: these are mine.”
Reiterberger had been fully aware that the battle between him and Alt would reach its climax at Hockenheim. “I got off to a great start from the third row and was able to work my way up the field in the first few laps. Everything that followed was a walk on a knife’s edge.” Reiterberger and Alt had been in a league of their own throughout the season.
Unlike in the first race, Luca Grünwald (HRP Honda) emerged victorious over Kamil Krzemien. “It was a difficult race and at times borderline dangerous with the rain in the back section. But it’s great to end the season on such a high note.” While Grünwald was sidelined with a long injury, World Superbike rider Leandro Mercado had ridden the Holzhauer Honda and secured podium finishes. Now Grünwald, too, had shown what he’s capable of.
The question of who will go down in history as the third-place finisher in the overall standings behind Reiterberger and Alt has now been answered. It is Yamaha rider Rob Hartog (Team SWPN), who ensures that, in addition to BMW, another manufacturer is also at the top of the standings.
IDM Superbike, Rennen 2:
1. Florian ALT (GER), BMW
2. Markus REITERBERGER (GER), BMW
3. Luca GRÜNWALD (GER), Honda
4. Kamil KRZEMIEN (POL), BMW
5. Rob HARTOG (NED), Yamaha
6. Dominik VINCON (GER), BMW
7. Pepijn BIJSTERBOSCH (NLD), BMW
8. Bastien MACKELS (BEL), Kawasaki
9. Gabriel NODERER (DEU), BMW
10. Max SCHMIDT (DEU), Yamaha