HRP team boss Jens Holzhauer was determined to secure pole position with Florian Alt in the IDM Superbike class at the Schleizer Dreieck. The fact that he managed to do so for the first time this year wasn't entirely down to his own efforts.
“Of course we’re aiming for pole position,” said Honda team boss Jens Holzhauer, ruling out any other possibility. “Florian’s girlfriend is from Schleiz; the town is his second home.” However, he cautiously added: “It’ll be difficult because we don’t have any data from last year to help us prepare the Honda. The new motorcycle also comes with new electronics. It’s good that we’ve already tested here. That way, we didn’t have to start completely from scratch.” As expected, Alt had advanced from Friday’s pre-practice session to today’s Superpole 2 to compete for the top starting position.
As a reminder: The Superpole format has been reintroduced as the qualifying procedure for the 2024 starting grid. Accordingly, on the Friday of each event, the twelve fastest riders will qualify during a half-hour “Superpole Pre-Practice” session to advance to Superpole 2, where the top starting positions will be determined.
So they won't be there when the other riders in Superpole 1 battle for their starting positions. However, the top three from Superpole 1 will still be eligible to compete in Superpole 2. This keeps their chances alive for one of the top spots. Superpole 2 will then determine starting positions 1 through 15. The remaining starting positions will be determined in order based on the Superpole 1 results. These starting positions will apply to both races.
Ilya Mikhalchik won Superpole 2 on the timing board with a 0.468-second lead over Florian Alt. But shortly afterward, the reality set in: the Ukrainian was penalized three grid positions for failing to turn on his rain light. Werner Daemen, head of the Champion Van Zon Alpha BMW team, went on the offensive and lodged a protest. Result: Protest denied. Mikhalchik will start fourth tomorrow. And Alt takes pole position. The entire BMW armada is behind him.
For Jan-Ole Jähnig, this means he’ll start from P2 instead of P3 on his home track. The 23-year-old was grinning from ear to ear. Things are going well for the BMW rider, who joined Team GERT56 as a rough diamond and is being polished at an astonishing pace. “I’m not complaining,” the Lehndorf native says modestly, “yesterday we tried a few things on the bike, and I went a little too far out on the track here and there. Now everything’s just right.”
In third place is Markus Reiterberger, the celebrated guest rider in his “green living room.” The four-time IDM champion will now have Mikhalchik, who started from a lower grid position, right on his tail. Both riders have a gritty riding style and are teammates on the BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team—but that’s about it. Their mutual respect is limited.
Pre-Practice Results: Ilya MIKHALCHIK (BMW), Florian ALT (Honda), Markus REITERBERGER (BMW), Jan-Ole JÄHNIG (BMW), Hannes SOOMER (BMW), Patrick HOBELSBERGER (BMW), Toni FINSTERBUSCH (BMW), Bálint KOVÁCS (BMW), Colin VELTHUIZEN (BMW), Luca GRÜNWALD (BMW), Philipp STEINMAYR (BMW), Thomas GRADINGER (Yamaha)
Superpole 1: Jan MOHR (BMW), Leandro MERCADO (Kawasaki), Max ENDERLEIN (Yamaha), Kevin ORGIS (BMW), Maximilian KOFLER (Yamaha), Rob HARTOG (Yamaha), Martin VUGRINEC (Kawasaki), Marco FETZ (BMW), Milan MERCKELBAGH (BMW), Sandro WAGNER (BMW), Leon FRANZ (BMW), Marc MOSER (Ducari), Björn STUPPI (BMW)
Superpole 2: Ilya MIKHALCHIK, Florian ALT, Jan-Ole JÄHNIG, Markus REITERBERGER, Patrick HOBELSBERGER, Leandro MERCADO, Toni FINSTERBUSCH, Bálint KOVÁCS, Jan MOHR, Philipp STEINMAYR, Thomas GRADINGER, Luca GRÜNWALD, Colin VELTHUIZEN, Max ENDERLEIN, Hannes SOOMER
