By winning the IDM Superbike title on the CBR 1000 RR-R, Florian Alt has cemented his place in Honda history. It had been thirteen years since the brand’s last victory. Now, the long-awaited success had finally arrived. At the finale of Germany’s top motorcycle racing series last weekend in Hockenheim, one thing mattered above all else: strategy.
Florian Alt stands at 189 centimeters tall and weighs 74 kilograms. When he skipped the races at the Red Bull Ring—despite leading the championship—because he was already committed to the World Endurance Championship that same weekend, Hannes Soomer could have snatched the IDM lead from him. That didn’t happen. In Assen, Alt could have clinched the championship early, but a crash through no fault of his own caused the plan to burst like a soap bubble. The championship T-shirts stayed in the box. Was Alt going to have the same bad luck again as in all those years when he finished as runner-up? The 27-year-old had already finished second four times on motorcycles from other manufacturers. But this time was different. “I always believed I would become champion this year, especially after the crash in Assen,” the Engelskirchen native looks back confidently. “There was only one goal, and that was to win the title at Hockenheim. Nothing else mattered. No victory, no lap record, nothing.”
Alt kept things extremely exciting for Team Holzhauer Racing Promotion (HRP). Before the first race, there were many scenarios to consider, but in short: if his main rival, Ilya Mikhalchik (BMW), won the race, Alt would have to finish on the podium to become champion. The Ukrainian did indeed win, and Alt finished fourth. No title again. Alt’s points lead was still substantial before the second race, but the final tally comes last. To still take the title away from Alt, Mikhalchik would have had to win again, and Alt could have finished no higher than 15th.
All’s well that ends well: After 18 laps of 3.692 kilometers each, Alt crossed the finish line in fifth place, ahead of Mikhalchik. A victory across the board. “When I won the start, I made sure no one ran into me afterward. After that, I thought about who I would let pass and gave the other riders their space. My nerves got the better of me in the last three laps,” Alt said, describing the jitters he felt in the second race.
During the cool-down lap, he stood on the footrests of his Honda, basked in the adulation, and savored the triumph with every breath. In front of the grandstand at the Sachskurve, he slipped on his champion’s T-shirt and swapped his helmet for a gold-painted one. His tuner and team boss, Jens Holzhauer, was right in the thick of the excitement. He savored the moment of his fourth IDM Superbike title. He had achieved this success 13 years ago with Karl Muggeridge (2010) and twice before that with Martin Bauer (2007/2008). And Holzhauer couldn’t stop praising his rider: “We’ve always had exceptional riders, but the magic Florian worked with the Fireblade in his first season for us can’t be praised enough.”
Here’s what the future looks like: According to Jens Holzhauer, nothing stands in the way of them pursuing a joint racing career. For Florian Alt, too, Holzhauer is the go-to person. But first on the agenda is a wildcard appearance in the Superbike World Championship in Jerez from October 27 to 29, 2023.
