The past two weeks have been quite eventful for Hannes Soomer. The 25-year-old Superbike rider from Tallinn has been crowned Estonian and Baltic Superbike Champion. He then went on to test at Hockenheim. He then made his second appearance for the Petronas MIE Honda Team in the Superbike World Championship at Magny-Cours, where he scored a World Championship point. Soomer stood in for Eric Granado, who had to be in Misano at the same time for the MotoE.
The International German Motorcycle Championship (IDM) is back in action from September 22 to 24, 2023—for the last time this year. Soomer has come to Germany to compete for the title in the premier Superbike class with Team Enemat Enos Motorsport on a Honda. What’s the situation heading into the grand finale, and what comes next? We checked in with Hannes Soomer, who is currently fourth in the overall standings.
You said you came to Germany to win the title. What’s the plan now?
Theoretically, I’m still in the running for the championship, even though it’s become very difficult. If a win isn’t possible, the goal is to finish as high as possible in the championship standings and win the final race at Hockenheim.
The last two races didn’t go so well—what happened?
It’s true that we didn’t finish where we had at the start of the season during the weekends at Spielberg and Assen. One reason for this was the hand injury I sustained during the Most WSBK weekend, my first World Championship race, which meant I wasn’t riding at my usual level. My hand is fine now, and I believe we’ll be fighting at the front again in Hockenheim.
How do you feel about the IDM after this season?
Very good. As I’ve said before, the championship is very professional, both in terms of organization and the racing itself. I really enjoyed this year with my guys. I’m a little frustrated with myself over the mistake in Most in Race 2 and the mistakes in Schleiz in Race 1. Without those, I’d be much closer in the title fight with Florian Alt, but there’s nothing I can do about that now. We’ve still done a great job in our first IDM year, on this bike and as this team. I’m happy and proud of our effort.
What are the chances we’ll see you again in 2024?
We’ll make that decision after the final round at Hockenheim. I’m happy in this championship right now, and we have a plan for how to improve our package so we can be more consistent at the front when we return with the same team next year. But I’m still open to other options, and the final decision hasn’t been made yet.
