That’s a surprise. According to the latest developments, it looks like Florian Alt will be competing for the title in the 2023 IDM Superbike series on a Honda CBR 1000 RR-R. The 26-year-old from Gummersbach and HRP team boss Jens Holzhauer have made significant progress in their negotiations. There is no longer a spot for Luca Grünwald at HRP next year, which makes the situation even clearer.
The Wilbers team had also planned to win the title with Alt. Over the past two years, after a series of ups and downs with the team, the North Rhine-Westphalian had finished as runner-up in the BMW series both times. “If we can’t offer him what he wants, he’ll have to move on,” says team boss Benny Wilbers, who has lost his best asset at the moment, acknowledging the departure.
However, it remains unclear which manufacturer the team will partner with next year. After the split with BMW was made public—due to a failure to reach an agreement for 2023—negotiations are currently underway with Honda and Yamaha. BMW has, however, re-engaged and is interested in continuing the long-standing partnership.
Although he currently has neither a manufacturer nor a driver lined up, Wilbers isn’t panicking. “We’ll first agree on a manufacturer and then on a driver who can help us compete at the top. But that won’t happen until our technical director, Burkhard Stember, returns from vacation in December.”