After three crashes, Ilya Mikhalchik (BCC ALPHA VAN ZON BMW RACING) had nothing left to lose. He had only one goal: to start from pole position and race to victory. But at the end of the 16-lap race, Florian Alt (Holzhauer Racing Promotion) emerged as the big winner.
There was broad consensus regarding tire choice, with the exception of Vladimir Leonov (Hertrampf Yamaha Racing) and Jan-Ole Jähnig (GERT56): the soft Pirelli SCX was the tire of choice. Ilya Mikhalchik was looking to bounce back after his retirements in recent races, but his plan fell apart right from the first corner. While leading, he missed the entry and sped off into the grass along with his teammate Balint Kovacs. The Ukrainian returned to the track in fifth place. At the front, Florian Alt, Hannes Soomer (Enemat Enos Motorsport), Patrick Hobelsberger (GERT56), and Leandro Mercado (Kawasaki Weber Motos Racing) were battling it out ahead of him. They made things more exciting with every lap. Hobelsberger made the first move on Alt, whose Honda was fast, but Hobelsberger’s BMW was even faster. Alt fended off all overtaking attempts and braked extremely late. But the spectacle had only just begun.
By then, a group of six had formed at the front. Next, Hobelsberger drifted too far to the outside in the corner; Soomer and Mikhalchik took advantage of this, and in that moment, the Ukrainian was back in the race. At first, though, it was a tight battle between Alt and Soomer. Honda has no team orders dictating who gets to lead and who doesn’t. And one thing is clear: after the previous results, Soomer wants the title just as much as Alt does now. On the tenth lap, Soomer attempted to attack Alt, but the German countered immediately. Just one lap later, Soomer tried again. This time with success. But that wasn’t all. Elbow to elbow, the two went head-to-head before Alt finally flew past Soomer with a burst of speed and raced to his next victory.
For Soomer, however, the race wasn’t over yet. Mikhalchik attacked him, but in a very aggressive manner. He executed his move with ruthless determination, securing second place, while Soomer finished third. Mikhalchik was only moderately happy, as he had been hoping for a win. Florian Alt extended his lead in the overall standings. He leads the standings with 120 points, ahead of Soomer (84 points).
Meanwhile, GERT56 teammates Patrick Hobelsberger and Toni Finsterbusch had caught up with the recovered Leandro Mercado, forming a two-man pack. However, the battle had cost them time, and a gap had opened up between them and the top three—the gap to the leaders was clearly visible. By the end of the race, the BMW riders had closed the gap on the leading trio once again.
IDM Superbike, Round 1:
1. Florian ALT (GER/Honda)
2. Ilya MIKHALCHIK (UKR/BMW)
3. Hannes SOOMER (EST/Honda)
4. Patrick HOBELSBERGER (GER/BMW)
5. Toni FINSTERBUSCH (GER/BMW)
6. Leandro MERCADO (ARG/Kawasaki)
7. Bastien MACKELS (BEL/Yamaha)
8. Vladimir LEONOV (UAE/Yamaha)
9. Philipp STEINMAYR (AUT/BMW)
10. Balint KOVACS (HUN/BMW)