It was a nail-biter right to the finish. Four riders were still in contention for the title in the first race of the IDM Superbike series: championship leader Florian Alt (HRP-Honda), runner-up Ilya Mikhalchik (BCC ALPHA VAN ZON RACING BMW), Patrick Hobelsberger (GERT56), and Hannes Soomer (Enos Enemat Motorsport). None of them were willing to back down, and all were in the leading group.
In the end, the overwhelming favorite, Florian Alt—who could have sealed the deal—still has to hold his breath, as Mikhalchik won the first race of the day and has kept the title race open until the final IDM Superbike race of the year this afternoon.
Florian Alt entered the race with a 36-point lead. His goal: to win the title for Honda in Germany’s top road racing class after 13 years. The last title was won by Australian Karl Muggeridge in 2010. Alt’s plan was to avoid making any mistakes in the first three laps and not let the front-runners pull away. He had secured a spot on the second row of the grid by finishing fifth in Saturday’s qualifying. Ilya Mikhalchik started from pole position.
There were many calculations leading up to the first race, but in short, the conclusion was this: If Mikhalchik wins the race, then Alt must finish on the podium to become champion. On the first lap, Soomer battled with Mikhalchik and took the lead ahead of the Ukrainian. By the third lap, the GERT56 BMW driven by Toni Finsterbusch—reliable as always at just the right moment—was in the lead, followed by Soomer, Mikhalchik, Hobelsberger, Alt, and the ever-faster rookie Jan-Ole Jähnig. When Hobelsberger passed Mikhalchik two laps later, it was like a penalty kick for Alt. The title seemed within reach. They battled as if it were already the final lap, but only half the race had passed. Jähnig crashed shortly afterward, and on the 12th lap, Hobelsberger also went down. The Bavarian, however, returned to the race and tried to salvage what he could from eighth place.
In the meantime, Mikhalchik had worked his way back to the front of the pack and did what he had to do to stay in the title race: win and score the full points. For his part, Mikhalchik gave it his all. Toni Finsterbusch finished second and was thrilled, as he had never before made it onto the podium at Hockenheim in his Superbike career. Third place went to Soomer, who can still remember standing on pole position at the Hockenheimring in the ADAC Junior Cup back in 2012. He gave the trophy to his grandmother as a birthday present.
Florian Alt finished fourth—one spot short of clinching the championship title. Tension is running high on the Holzhauer Racing Promotion team. Who will be pulling the championship T-shirts out of the box today? The race takes place at 3:25 p.m. and will be streamed live for free at www.idm.de/live. The battle for third place in the standings is another highlight. Hobelsberger or Soomer? Just a single point separates the two!
IDM Superbike, Race 1
1. Ilya MIKHALCHIK (UKR), BMW
2. Toni FINSTERBUSCH (GER), BMW
3. Hannes SOOMER (EST), Honda
4. Florian ALT (GER), Honda
5. Bastien MACKELS (NED), Yamaha
6. Max SCHMIDT (GER), BMW
7. Patrick HOBELSBERGER (GER), BMW
8. Philipp STEINMAYR (AUT), BMW
9. Colin VELTHUIZEN (NLD), BMW
10. Vladimir LEONOV (UAE), Yamaha