After winning the Bol d’Or in the Endurance World Championship (EWC) and taking the victory at the IDM finale in Hockenheim, Florian Alt found himself facing so many possibilities for the upcoming season that the 26-year-old from North Rhine-Westphalia almost felt dizzy. The Gummersbach native, who goes by the nickname “Flo,” explains why he chose Honda.
First: The EWC team Viltais, for which Alt competes in the World Endurance Championship, switched manufacturers at the end of the season and now races on Hondas instead of Yamahas.
Second: For Alt, 2023 should mark the end of the balancing act between two different makes of his superbike. Even though he has recently gotten the back-and-forth switching under excellent control, he still expects to gain even more from it if he can ride with the same tires and identical suspension components in the future, according to his press release. In the IDM, he is among the title favorites in the premier class as part of Jens Holzhauer’s HRP-Honda team. Alt will compete in all championship races on a Honda CBR 1000 RR-R, using Pirelli tires and Öhlins suspension.
Third: To top it all off, wildcard appearances in the Superbike World Championship are on the horizon. He has reportedly been guaranteed one event, and more are in the works.
The goals of the 1.89-meter-tall athlete, who weighs 72 kilograms in competition, are clearly defined: to find that final second Honda needs to win the long-awaited IDM title, and to compete at the top of the EWC so that, as the best customer team of the past two years, they can aim for the overall World Endurance Championship title in the medium term.
“Unbelievable—who would have thought it? A year ago, there were still discussions about my IDM team partnering with my EWC team and using the 1000cc BMWs along with our own ZF suspension. Then BMW pulled out of the negotiations due to the numerous retirements and engine problems that needed to be resolved first. And, to my surprise, my previous IDM team announced they were ending their partnership with the Bavarian manufacturer,” Alt reflects on the past few months. He continues: “So, at the beginning of October, we found ourselves facing a completely new situation. I had already noticed the potential of the Honda CBR1000RR-R during the season. Then Honda went on to win the EWC World Championship. Racing in both series on a Honda seemed to me to be the best solution for 2023.”