He went into the winter break in third place overall in the IDM Superbike series and is therefore considered one of the title favorites for 2024 in Germany’s top motorcycle road racing class. “I feel ready for the title fight,” says Patrick “Pax” Hobelsberger. The 27-year-old BMW rider from Team GERT56 has been testing in Spain for several weeks on his private practice bike and has outperformed well-known World Championship stars in the process.
Hobelsberger was in Almería, Valencia, and Cartagena. From there, she headed back to Valencia. Pax met them all along the way: Johann Zarco, Aleix Espargaró, Scott Redding, Marcos Ramírez, Filip Salac, and even more big names from various world championships—ranging from MotoGP to Moto2 to the World Superbike Championship. In Cartagena, Hobelsberger set the fastest lap time on the track on three separate days. Not all of his competitors had transponders on their motorcycles, but their times were recorded anyway. “And everyone was riding Superbikes—Filip Salac, for example, on a Ducati Panigale V4R. That made everything pretty comparable.” In Valencia, he was only beaten by World Superbike rider Scott Redding.
Riding coach Peter Sebestyen from Hungary, whom Hobelsberger often brings in, was able to watch as the BMW rider improved with each run. “The first time this year was better than the last time last year. And the last time this year was better than the first time this year,” the pro from Landau an der Isar sums up with a laugh. And he hasn’t crashed a single time. Another thing he’s really enjoying: For the first time in his career, he’s been with the same team for two years.
Hobelsberger can hardly wait for the 2024 racing season to finally begin. “I’m not the least bit nervous,” he says. He works what feels like 25 hours a day toward his goal and pushes himself to the limit. He wants to win the IDM Superbike title. “I’ve done everything possible so far. I can’t do any more than that.”
The day after tomorrow, on February 19, he’ll head back to Spain after a short break in Germany. First, he’ll stay busy as an instructor at his own small racing school at the Circuito Andalucía in Tabernas. Good to know: Tabernas is the place in Europe with the most hours of sunshine and the least annual rainfall. After that, Pax will once again train personally to the limit in Calafat.
Pax doesn’t know much about the IDM Superbike competition. “Except for Hannes Soomer, whom I know from my Supersport. We’re friends, and we definitely talk once or twice a week. When he drove home from the World Championship race in Most last year, I let him stay over at my place.”