Max Schmidt is the new rain king of the IDM Superbike at the Red Bull Ring. In the absence of Florian Alt, Ilya Mikhalchik, Bastien Mackels, and Leandro Mercado, who are competing in the World Endurance Championship at Suzuka, the 20-year-old from Wuppertal will start second on the front row tomorrow, sandwiched between World Superbike riders Garrett Gerloff (photo) and Loris Baz. The rainy qualifying session produced more than just this surprise.
It came as no surprise that guest riders Gerloff and Baz would be among the front-runners, even though they only had a stock rolling chassis at their disposal. That said, it was equipped with Wilbers suspension, which had already proven itself in the IDM when Leandro Mercado took second place at Schleiz. Now, the forks and shock absorbers are also fitted to the Bonovo Action BMW Team’s motorcycles at the Red Bull Ring. “I’m taking a very pragmatic approach,” says team boss Michael Galinski, explaining: “Benny Wilbers offered this to me, and rather than have our guys ride with standard equipment, I jumped at the chance.”
It was a real thrill to see Max Schmidt squeeze in between the two World Superbike riders. “It’s pretty exciting,” he said back in the pits with the BCC-ALPHA-VAN ZON BMW RACING Team. “The last time I was on the front row was in the ADAC Junior Cup, and that was a few years ago. And now I’m between Gerloff and Baz. That’s just insane.” Schmidt was even able to improve on his fastest lap time in the second qualifying session. “It was raining less at the start. Just as we were all getting into a rhythm, it got worse. I waited until the rain really came down, but I still had confidence in the bike out on the track.”
Philipp Steinmayr (BCC-ALPHA-VAN ZON-BMW) will start from the second row of the grid in his home race, followed by Colin Velthuizen (RR SOCIA RACING TeamNL). The Dutchman is the youngest Superbike rider in the field and is only 19 years old. He has made few appearances so far, but now he has surpassed himself.
The top seven spots on the starting grid for tomorrow’s first race all go to riders on the BMW M 1000 RR. In eighth place is Hannes Soomer (Enemat Enos Motorsport), who—in the absence of Florian Alt and Ilya Mikhalchik—was actually expected to make a big leap forward in the title race, but the Estonian couldn’t find the right pace on the Honda. “I like the track and usually like the rain too—I’ve secured my podium finishes in the Supersport World Championship in the rain—but we just can’t seem to make any headway here.”
The fact that a Yamaha is in the top ten is thanks to Vladimir Leonov. He had a particularly tough time of it, as he was suffering from a bad case of the flu and a fever, but he powered through.
IDM Superbike Qualifying Results
1. Garrett GERLOFF (USA), BMW
2. Max SCHMIDT (GER), BMW
3. Loris BAZ (FRA), BMW
4. Philipp STEINMAYR (AUT), BMW
5. Colin VELTHUIZEN (NED), BMW
6. Toni FINSTERBUSCH (GER), BMW
7. Kamil KRZEMIEN (POL), BMW
8. Hannes SOOMER (EST), Honda
9. Vladimir LEONOV (UAE), Yamaha
10. Balint KOVACS (HUN), BMW