Melvin van der Voort will start Supersport pole position tomorrow in the IDM Supersport . The Dutch rider set the fastest lap in qualifying at the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben with a time of 1:27.369 min.
17-year-old Melvin van der Voort (Team SWPN), Thomas Gradinger (Eder Racing), and Twan Smits (Team Apreco) will start tomorrow’s two races from the front row. The Yamaha riders are also the only ones to have posted a lap time in the 1:27 range.
Andreas Kofler (M32 Racing), who had long been in contention for third place, had knocked himself out of the running: a front-wheel slip, a crash, and the end of qualifying. Quote: “That shouldn’t have happened, but we’ve started from the second row so many times over the past year that we’ll manage it now, too.” The Austrian will open the second row on his Yamaha with a personal best time of 1:28.071.
Starting in fifth place, Michal Prasek (MotoLife Racing) from the Czech Republic brings some variety to the mix in terms of motorcycle brands. Prasek rides a Triumph Street Triple RS, which has been eligible for the championship since 2023 because the IDM’s technical regulations were aligned with those of the Supersport. The so-called Supersport Generation” category allows the use of motorcycles that do not fall into the traditional 600cc class—such as the Triumph Street Triple 765 RS. To ensure that all brands in the class have an equal chance, the various motorcycle designs are balanced against one another. This is achieved through a sophisticated balancing rule. Similar to the World Championship, IDM motorcycles are now also equipped with standardized electronics.
A Kawasaki and the only Honda in the field will also start in the top ten. Luca der Vleeschauwer (Kawasaki Weber Mots Racing) qualified eighth for the race, and Julius Caesar Rörig (MCA Racing) qualified ninth. With his second top-ten finish in practice, the fastest German has achieved his goal for today. “Now I just need to get a good start tomorrow,” Rörig hopes, “that’s something I sometimes struggle with a bit.” Since there’s only one of his brand-new Honda CBR 600 RR for now, Rörig holds the No. 1 spot in 2023. He’s backed by his partnership with Honda Germany. But he doesn’t feel any pressure from above: “There are goals. Top-ten finishes are desired. But that’s exactly what we want, too.”
IDM Supersport Qualifying
1. Melvin VAN DER VOORT (NLD), Yamaha
2. Thomas GRADINGER (AUT), Yamaha
3. Twan SMITS (NLD), Yamaha
4. Andreas KOFLER (AUT), Yamaha
5. Michal PRASEK (CZE), Triumph
6. Martin VUGRINEC (CRO), Yamaha
7. Yves STADELMANN (CHE), Yamaha
8. Luca DE VLEESCHAUWER (BEL), Kawasaki
9. Julius Caesar RÖRIG (DEU), Honda
10. Christoph BEINLICH (DEU), Yamaha