Instead of jumping for joy, Till Belczykowski experienced just about every possible setback during his tests ahead of the season opener. The IDM Supersport rider from the LJ Racing Team hopes that phase is now over. If everything goes well, the MV Agusta rider is expecting a very good season.
In the four races he Supersport in last year on the MV Agusta in the IDM Supersport series, he finished in the points right from the very first one. “It wasn’t a bad start,” says the 19-year-old high school graduate from Duisburg, looking back. His preseason preparations for 2024, on the other hand, were turbulent. From Rijeka, he traveled on to Misano, where Belczykowski got very little riding time. “There were a lot of interruptions,” reports the Westphalian, “red flags were waved again and again. And I realized I wasn’t comfortable with the bike. There were problems with the suspension, and I crashed twice. Aside from a few minor scrapes, the MV came out unscathed. So we were able to keep going. In the next few laps, I didn’t have the confidence I wanted in the bike, but we were still able to try out a few settings.”
Even though not everything went according to plan, Belczykowski still managed to win a race organized by the training provider action bike at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli.
Last weekend, Belczykowski competed in the first round of the Dutch Championship in Assen and suffered yet another setback. Since he was using the event for training purposes ahead of the IDM, he rode his newly rebuilt training bike. After two qualifying sessions, the MV Agusta rider was disqualified. The bike was too loud. It was only because he had a second bike with him that Belczykowski was ultimately allowed to race after all. However, he had to start from the pit lane. He was determined to work his way up through the field from the back, but on the second lap, the clutch broke. Frustrated, Belczykowski rode back to the pits. Still, he’s not letting it get him down. “That’s just how it goes sometimes in racing, and hopefully that’s the end of our bad luck. Now we know where we need to focus, and in two weeks we have another test at Oschersleben with Bike Promotion. Until then, we’ll have the suspension overhauled, and hopefully things will go better after that. If we can pull it off like we did last year, we’ve got a good season ahead of us.”