Patrick “Pax” Hobelsberger has now had nearly a week to reflect on the IDM races at the Nürburgring. The 28-year-old Bavarian from Landau an der Isar describes the top class as a “complete disaster.” Too many things went wrong for him, and in the end, his brilliant GERT56 teammate Toni Finsterbusch edged him out of third place in the overall standings. What happens now?
The fog had blanketed the Eifel region for two days. There was little track time for any of the riders. Nevertheless, Hobelsberger quickly found his rhythm on the BMW M 1000 RR. His results in the IDM Superbike: second place in free practice and fifth on the grid after qualifying. “I felt really good; I was riding with ease,” he said optimistically.
A day later, he was at a loss for words. Hobelsberger describes his shock: “In the first race, I got off to a great start and was able to stay with the leading group in third place for a long time, until I realized my lines were way too wide. I started pushing and managed to close the gap a bit. By the middle of the race, I was riding very consistently behind my teammate Toni. Unfortunately, I made a small mistake and had to swerve onto the grass because I was at the absolute limit. I started having major problems with the tires and could hardly do anything about it. No matter what I tried, it didn’t work.” Hobelsberger managed to limit the damage by finishing in seventh place.
In the second race, he came back from the first lap in tenth place after several collisions. The tire problem returned, and another one cropped up. “I had several splashes of water on my visor, and my engine temperature kept getting hotter and hotter. On the straight, I had to pull out of the slipstream to cool my bike down. I was overtaken several times on the start-finish straight. I could barely stop the bike, constantly lost the ideal line, and had no grip. And there was hardly a trace of power or acceleration. I guess I ran out of all my talent today to somehow react to the problems. Everything I tried didn’t make it better, just more dangerous. So I decided to somehow make it to the finish line with blunt weapons and poor rider performance and take all the points I could reasonably manage to get. Hobelsberger finished twelfth, so he earned four championship points. “On Saturday evening, I would have thought such a scenario impossible. For me, honestly, it was a complete disaster.” In the overall standings, the BMW driver has slipped to fourth place. Teammate Finsterbusch is now third.
“Sometimes you win, and sometimes you learn,” as the saying goes. “Today I can say I’ve learned a lot!” Hobelsberger reflects, knowing “that my technician, Ronny Schlieder, will turn every single bolt 30 times clockwise and 30 times counterclockwise to get me a perfect bike for the final race in Hockenheim.” He also promises to come up with a plan to finish the season the way it started: with a win.
