After missing the Sachsenring round and a slow start at Oschersleben, he’s now back to his old form at Most: Hannes Soomer is back in top form and shaking up the IDM Superbike class. That said, his journey to the third round of the International German Motorcycle Championship (IDM) was an adventure in itself.
Hannes Soomer is used to a lot and has been almost everywhere in the world. But the 26-year-old from Tallinn has never had a journey quite like the one he just took to Most. “It started off pretty strangely. We left ten hours later than planned. And then the police stopped us, too,” reports the BMW rider from Enos Motorsport, who has to drive through Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Germany with his crew before reaching the Czech Republic. “The police wanted to check what we had in the cargo area. When they saw the motorcycles, they were totally happy and we were able to continue on our way.”
But the 1,800-kilometer journey had even more surprises in store. In Poland, a tire came loose from the van while we were driving and rolled away.
After all that stress, Soomer won the second free practice session. He finished fifth in the Superpole pre-practice—he’s back to his old self. “I spent four days testing at the Porschering in Pärnu, near my home in Estonia. I rode a lot of Supermoto and I’m back in shape. I don’t have to ride a new bike anymore, like I did in Oschersleben—I’ve gotten used to it now.”
Soomer switched from Honda to BMW this winter, but had to stay home for the IDM season opener. He had injured his shoulder in April during the opening round of the World Endurance Championship at Le Mans. “Everything’s fine now,” the Estonian says with his usual smile.