Oliver Bayliss will start from pole position in the Supersport class of the International German Motorcycle Championship (IDM). The Australian, who comes from the Supersport World Championship and is the son of three-time Superbike World Champion Troy Bayliss, will be competing as a guest starter but will not be eligible for points. Melvin van der Voort is in second place on the grid, with Andreas Kofler in third.
For Bayliss, the IDM round in Most is preparation for the Superbike World Championship race taking place here in July. The 19-year-old Ducati rider set the fastest time by exactly 0.400 seconds ahead of Melvin van der Voort (SWPN, Yamaha), who has some catching up to do in the races after his crashes in Oschersleben. Kofler really pushed hard in the second qualifying session and improved his time. "After the first session, we spent an hour and a half evaluating the data. The first sector was disastrous. I was just too slow, I was lacking in every area," reported the Austrian from Team M32 Racing.
Twan Smits (Team Apreco, Yamaha), Thomas Gradinger (Eder Racing, Yamaha), and Bayliss's teammate Maximilian Kofler (Ducati), who is also training for the Supersport World Championship race, will start the race from the second row of the grid. Gradinger has applied for a wildcard entry for the World Championship race, but is on tenterhooks as there is still no confirmation. The announcement of who will be considered for the wildcard will be made 30 days before the race. So Gradinger will only know next week whether he will be allowed to race or not. He was not at all satisfied with his sixth place on the grid in the IDM. "I didn't get a good feeling for the bike. We went round in circles and now we have to take it as it is," he sums up his qualifying and adds, in typical Gradinger fighting spirit: "But it's not as if the bike is undriveable."
Luca de Vleeschauwer (Kawasaki Weber Motos Racing) and Julius Caesar Rörig (MCA Racing Team) are proving really tough to beat in 15th and 16th place. De Vleeschauwer was third overall last year and has not got going at all so far. Rörig is the only Honda rider in the field. He complained about persistent grip problems and, like Kofler, he is still struggling with the first sector in Most. Although he posted respectable times given the development status of the new motorcycle, he is extremely unhappy with his starting position. "Because of the guest riders, I'm now even further back than usual." There are three guest riders in total.
Qualifying IDM Supersport
1. Oliver Max BAYLISS (AUS/Ducati)
2. Melvin VAN DER VOORT (NLD/Yamaha)
3. Andreas KOFLER (AUT/Yamaha)
4. Twan SMITS (NLD/Yamaha)
5. Thomas GRADINGER (AUT/Yamaha)
6. Maximilian KOFLER (AUT/Ducati)
7. Tom EDWARDS (AUS/Yamaha)
8. Martin VUGRINEC (CRO/Yamaha)
9. Jonas KOCOUREK (CZE/Triumph)
10.Michal PRASEK (CZE/Triumph)
