Three-time IDM champion and BMW star rider Ilya Mikhalchik knew even before the two races at the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben that he would have to work hard to keep Florian Alt, his toughest rival in the battle for the IDM Superbike title, at bay. But then everything changed. His teammate Bálint Kovács from Hungary is currently the most successful rider on the BCC ALPHA VAN ZON BMW RACING team. The newcomer to the team once again proved to be a safe bet and is already fifth in the overall standings.
Kovacs first had to get used to his IDM BMW again. Since his successful IDM debut at the Sachsenring, the Hungarian had also competed in the Alpe Adria Superbike Championship at the Slovakiaring. His reward for all that effort: a trophy for first place and another for second.
Kovács was in good form heading into the races at Oschersleben, although qualifying had been a bit of a struggle. “Yes, that’s true,” he admitted, “qualifying wasn’t perfect. I just needed some time to get used to the BMW. But I did know the track beforehand.” While starting from 12th wasn’t exactly what he wanted, finishing 8th and 6th in the races was a very respectable result for the day. “I was only nine seconds behind the winner. So it’s definitely an improvement,” the rookie summed up. Kovács is now fifth overall behind championship leader Florian Alt (Honda), Hannes Soomer (Honda), Bastien Mackels (Yamaha), and Patrick Hobelsberger (BMW).
And where is Mikhalchik? For him, the weekend ended in disaster with two crashes. He himself escaped his highside during the warm-up lap—before the race even started—with only minor injuries, but the M 1000 RR did not fare so well. The Ukrainian came away with some bruises. When the bike was checked, no errors were detected in the data readout. Neither with the rider, who had been riding with just a ten percent lean angle and adjusted speed, nor when checking the gearbox or shifting. Now everyone had to pitch in to rebuild the bike in time for the second race. At the last minute, Mikhalchik was able to roll onto the starting grid. He confidently closed in on the leading group, but crashed again while battling for third place. Although he managed to get the bike back upright and salvage some championship points, he had failed to achieve his goal of posing a serious threat to Florian Alt at the front. Mikhalchik is now eighth overall in the standings.