Florian Alt’s (Holzhauer Racing Promotion) crash and its aftermath have put Ilya Mikhalchik (Champion Alpha Van Zon BMW) in a comfortable position in the IDM Superbike standings in terms of winning the title. His goal: to become champion in the top class for the fourth time. But the 28-year-old Ukrainian had to fight hard for his second victory today at the TT Circuit Assen.
Since Alt was absent from the second race at Assen and pole position would theoretically have been vacant, all drivers moved up one spot. No position remained unfilled. A wild start to the race led to some very unusual scenarios. Maximilian Kofler (Yamalube Motorsport Kofler) surged from sixth place to the front. Hannes Soomer (Enos Motorsport) changed the situation, didn’t hesitate, and put the Austrian in his place. Soomer literally made his BMW fly, but it was obvious that he was putting a heavy strain on his tires in the process.
By the fourth lap, the field had settled into a formation with Soomer in the lead, followed by Patrick Hobelsberger (GERT56), Ilya Mikhalchik, Toni Finsterbusch (GERT56), Maximilian Kofler, and Jan-Ole Jähnig (GERT56), though the latter crashed shortly thereafter.
During the race, Finsterbusch forced Mikhalchik off the track. The Krostitz native was on the inside of the turn and wouldn’t give way. The Ukrainian had to open up and drive a few extra meters. Soomer drifted boldly through every turn at the front of the pack. “Three or four laps before the end, I thought I could win today,” said the 26-year-old. Mikhalchik was the reason it didn’t happen. After settling the score with Finsterbusch, he clawed his way to the front, gaining ground tenths of a second at a time. By the third-to-last lap, Soomer was done for. Mikhalchik won his seventh IDM Superbike race of the year. “But it was tough and very fast,” he admitted afterward. Those who crashed or retired included: Max Enderlein, Thomas Gradinger, Leandro Mercado, and Luca Grünwald.
The battle for third place was settled internally among the GERT56 teammates Finsterbusch and Hobelsberger. They even made contact, and team boss Karsten Wolf must have nearly hit the roof. Hobelsberger won the duel in a hard-fought yet friendly manner, ensuring the same podium lineup as after the first Superbike race. And he also overtook “Fibu” in the overall standings. The standings are now led by Mikhalchik (213 points) ahead of Alt (155), Hobelsberger (124), and Finsterbusch (119). Jan-Ole Jähnig lost his fifth-place standing in the standings due to a complete failure and has slipped to P7. In contrast, Lorenzo Zanetti (99) has moved up to fifth place.
A quick update on Florian Alt: The defending Honda champion had planned to fly off to Canada for a vacation after the IDM event, but that’s not going to happen. The 28-year-old from Engelskirchen needs surgery on his injured hand. His title hopes have plummeted following this weekend. The German now trails leader Mikhalchik by 58 points. But there are still four races to go. And the final reckoning won’t come until the big Hockenheim finale in September.
IDM Superbike, Round 2
1. Ilya MIKHALCHIK (UKR), BMW
2. Hannes SOOMER (EST), BMW
3. Patrick HOBELSBERGER (GER), BMW
4. Toni FINSTERBUSCH (GER), BMW
5. Colin VELTHUIZEN (NED), BMW
6. Bálint KOVÁCS (HUN), BMW
7. Lorenzo ZANETTI (ITA), Ducati
8. Milan MERCKELBAGH (NLD), BMW
9. Maximilian KOFLER (AUT), Yamaha
10.Philipp STEINMAYR (AUT), BMW
11.Jan MOHR (AUT), BMW
12. Kevin ORGIS (GER), BMW
13. Oliver KÖNIG (CZE), Ducati
14. Rob HARTOG (NED), Yamaha
15. Martin VUGRINEC (CRO), Kawasaki