In today’s Superpole qualifying, Ilya Mikhalchik (Champion Alpha Van Zon) emerged as the fastest rider in the IDM Superbike class. The Ukrainian will start from pole position in both races tomorrow. Florian Alt (Holzhauer Racing Promotion) and Patrick Hobelsberger (GERT56) will line up alongside him. This is certainly not a foregone conclusion, as there is a tremendous amount of action in the top class of the International German Motorcycle Championship (IDM).
Ilya Mikhalchik is clearly in a good mood. He cracked jokes during the drivers’ briefing and flashed a hint of a smile after Superpole 2 on Saturday afternoon. The 27-year-old three-time Superbike champion secured pole position with a best lap time of 1:32.086 minutes. Two points separate the BMW rider from championship leader Florian Alt, the current defending champion riding a Honda. Alt’s team approached the Superpole decision with an unconventional strategy. “We used only one tire, not two like the rest,” Alt explains. He also thinks he knows why he finished second. “On my fast lap, I had an extremely long wheelie on the start-finish straight, which ultimately cost me pole position. But I’m also really surprised by how fast so many of the BMWs are.”
Riding the IDM Honda, Alt was only four-tenths slower than Iker Lecuona on the factory Honda in the Superbike World Championship at Most a year ago. “I’m proud of the team for having the Fireblade under control—without having any comparative data from a number of other motorcycles,” he says, unable to resist a dig at BMW’s overwhelming dominance in the top class. Alt makes it clear that he’s definitely ready for the battle for the championship lead on Sunday.
Thomas Gradinger, Lorenzo Zanetti, and Leandro Mercado—starting in eighth, ninth, and tenth place on Yamaha, Ducati, and Kawasaki, respectively—ensure that all other manufacturers will be in the mix for the top spots. Zanetti claimed his first victory of the year. And no matter where he is, Zanetti’s extended family travels from Italy in a group of at least two handfuls. His mother, father, sister, manager, and a large entourage travel thousands of kilometers to support the Panigale V4R rider, who is currently third overall in the championship. That adds up to a lot of Italian passion.
Incidentally, Moritz Jenkner has snuck into the field as a guest rider with start number #69. One rider who will be missing in Most—and won’t be appearing at the Schleizer Dreieck either—is Vladimir Leonov. The Russian rider from Hertrampf Ducati Racing crashed during test runs at the Moscow Raceway and broke his right hand. Recovery time: expected to be four weeks. This means that Denis Hertrampf’s star rider in the IDM Superbike class will once again be absent from the starting grid. His young rider, Oliver König, has been struggling to make headway so far.
Pre-Practice Results: Florian ALT (Honda), Ilya MIKHALCHIK (BMW), Jan-Ole JÄHNIG (BMW), Toni FINSTERBUSCH (BMW), Hannes SOOMER (BMW), Patrick HOBELSBERGER (BMW), Maximilian KOFLER (Yamaha), Lorenzo ZANETTI (Ducati), Leandro MERCADO (Kawasaki), Bálint KOVÁCS (BMW), Max SCHMIDT (BMW), Kevin ORGIS (BMW).
Superpole 1 Results: Federico CARICASULO (Kawasaki), Thomas GRADINGER (Yamaha), Philipp STEINMAYR (BMW), Max ENDERLEIN (Yamaha), Luca GRÜNWALD (BMW), Colin VELTHUIZEN (BMW), Leon ORGIS (Yamaha), Marco FETZ (BMW), Milan MERCKELBAGH (BMW), Rob HARTOG (Yamaha), Oliver KÖNIG (Ducati), Marc MOSER (Ducati), Sandro WAGNER (BMW), Moritz JENKNER (BMW), Julius ILMBERGER (BMW), Björn STUPPI (BMW), Leon FRANZ (BMW).
Superpole 2 Results: Ilya MIKHALCHIK, Florian ALT, Patrick HOBELSBERGER, Hannes SOOMER, Toni FINSTERBUSCH, Jan-Ole JÄHNIG, Kevin ORGIS, Thomas GRADINGER, Lorenzo ZANETTI, Leandro MERCADO, Maximilian KOFLER, Bálint KOVÁCS, Federico CARICASULO, Max SCHMIDT, Philipp STEINMAYR.
