Ilya Mikhalchik (Champion Alpha Van Zon BMW) celebrated his 28th birthday yesterday. Florian Alt (Holzhauer Racing Promotion) had spoiled the Ukrainian’s day a bit by snatching pole position from him in the IDM Superbike class. That didn’t help the defending German champion today. Florian Alt crashed unluckily in the first race and is already on his way home, while Mikhalchik was waved off as the winner for the sixth time this year and is on track to clinch the title.
Florian Alt had taken a big risk in the Superpole qualifying session, but wasn’t sure if he could maintain race pace over the scheduled 15 laps, each 4.555 kilometers long. He lacks the necessary tire grip on the outside. But he had to do everything he could to make up the eight-point deficit to Mikhalchik in the championship standings in order to stay in the thick of the title race.
The outcome was already decided in the first round at the TT Circuit in Assen. Alt had a high-speed crash in sixth gear. When the bike landed, the Honda came down directly on Alt’s right pinky finger, which was scraped down to the tendon. It was all over. The team led by boss Jens Holzhauer immediately headed home. The mood was understandably at rock bottom.
Mikhalchik won the race by 7.508 seconds ahead of Hannes Soomer (Enos Motorsport) and Patrick Hobelsberger (GERT56). Early on, Maximilian Kofler (Yamalube Kofler Motorsport) and a Milan Merckelbagh (Indenhof-MRP) who was performing above and beyond his usual level were also among the frontrunners. Some, like Jan-Ole Jähnig (GERT56), crashed out of the race. It was unclear whether Thomas Gradinger (Eder Racing) braked too late or Luca Grünwald (BCC Alpha Ilmberger) braked too early. Both crashed directly in front of Bálint Kovács (Champion Alpha Van Zon BMW), who was unable to avoid them. Colin Velthuizen (RR SOCIA Media), who had surprised everyone in practice, was out of the race on the tenth lap.
By the end, Mikhalchik had pulled far ahead of the chasing pack, and Soomer also held on to second place unchallenged after making contact with Hobelsberger a few laps earlier. The Bavarian battled with his GERT56 teammate Finsterbusch for third place in the final laps and came out on top. Leandro Mercado (Kawasaki Weber Racing) saved the day for Kawasaki. He had been glued to Merckelbagh’s tail for a long time and had actually been Alt’s secret choice to stir things up in the BMW pack. He did just that—only without Alt.
Just as Mercado finally passed the Dutch rider, Lorenzo Zanetti (Triple M Ducati Frankfurt), two places behind, suddenly set a lap time a second faster on the twelfth lap. The Italian opened the throttle as if the wound from his collarbone fracture three weeks earlier—which was clearly still painful—had never existed. In the final lap, he also caught Merckelbagh off guard, ensuring that a red Ducati diva also made it into the top ten. Although the BMW contingent took the top spots and rode en masse onto the podium, they had no chance of pushing the other brands out of the top ten. Maximilian Kofler was the fastest Yamaha rider and finished ninth.
IDM Superbike, Race 1
1. Ilya MIKHALCHIK (UKR), BMW
2. Hannes SOOMER (EST), BMW
3. Patrick HOBELSBERGER (GER), BMW
4. Toni FINSTERBUSCH (GER), BMW
5. Leandro MERCADO (ARG), Kawasaki
6. Lorenzo ZANETTI (ITA), Ducati
7. Milan MERCKELBAGH (NLD), BMW
8. Philipp STEINMAYR (AUT), BMW
9. Maximilian KOFLER (AUT), Yamaha
10.Jan MOHR (AUT), BMW
11. Martin VUGRINEC (CRO), Kawasaki
12. Max ENDERLEIN (GER), Yamaha
13. Rob HARTOG (NED), Yamaha
14. Sandro WAGNER (GER), BMW
15. Marc MOSER (GER), Ducati