It happened at the Schleizer Dreieck. For the first time in his two-year Supersport career riding an MV Agusta, Till Belczykowski scored points in both races. Without the penalty, things could have gone even better.
19-year-old Till Belczykowski and his team, LJ Racing, are completely on their own. As the only rider in the IDM Supersport , the high school student is flying the MV Agusta flag. As a result, there has never been anyone to compare himself to. Consequently, there can be no exchange of data. Because the Duisburg native hadn’t been able to develop the right feel for the motorcycle in recent races, a radical change was made ahead of the fourth round of the IDM season at the Schleizer Dreieck. The MV Agusta was fitted with a new suspension system. Belczykowski has switched to Öhlins.
“After the free practice sessions, I was in 13th place and finally felt confident again when turning into corners. The only thing I still couldn’t do very well was accelerating out of the corners,” the high school student reports. In the first qualifying session, he made a serious mistake. Because he hadn’t turned on the oft-mentioned rain light, the teenager was demoted several positions. But that wasn’t the only thing that went wrong. He started the second qualifying session on the partially wet track with rain tires. The ideal line, however, was dry. The result: the wrong tire choice. Starting position 18. Belczykowski finished the first “ Supersport ” race in 15th place. Because the race was red-flagged after nine of the planned 15 laps and two riders who crashed ahead of him were not included in the results, Belczykowski moved up two positions. Frustrating for him: Due to the short distance covered, only half points were awarded.
For the second race, the rider from North Rhine-Westphalia was able to take his 18th starting position again. “I passed four riders on the first lap. Then my elbows suddenly started to hurt. That affected my concentration,” he admits honestly, but adds happily: “Nevertheless, I was able to set another personal best, even if it ‘only’ was enough for 15th place in the end. We got everything right with the new suspension setup.”
