The decision has been made. There will be no Wilbers team in the International German Motorcycle Championship (IDM) in 2024 either. Hopes for a return of the prestigious team from Lower Saxony have not been realized. And the suspension service for the “Wilbers by ZF Performance Suspension” products has also been discontinued one year after its launch.
After twelve years in the IDM Superbike series, the Wilbers team withdrew from the IDM Superbike two years ago. Jörg Teuchert, Christian Kellner, Gareth Jones, Lucy Glöckner, and the current champion, Florian Alt, had been the team’s best-known riders up to that point. Last season, however, the crew led by the charismatic company owner Benny Wilbers remained involved in the IDM as a partner providing professional suspension services and explicitly supported the Kawasaki Weber Motos Racing Team with Leandro Mercado. The Argentine finished on the podium at the Schleizer Dreieck.
As the season drew to a close and with a wealth of experience under their belts, the team began discussing a comeback for the proven Wilbers team on the track in collaboration with Kawasaki. That was the plan. The comeback never materialized. Wilbers and the motorcycle manufacturer were unable to reach a financial agreement.
Do we now have to say goodbye forever to one of the most renowned teams in the IDM Superbike series? “We’ll continue to support Marco Fetz with suspension technology. Whether that includes the fork will depend on future regulations,” explains Head of Engineering Burkhard Stember, adding: “Otherwise, nothing is happening on our end in the IDM. We have many major projects underway at our facility in Nordhorn. We’re testing fairing-equipped motorcycles as well as many Harleys. It’s impossible to say today what will happen in a few months—whether we’ll be racing again or not. The IDM goes from one season to the next, sometimes spanning two. Let’s talk about it again in six months.”