Patrick “Pax” Hobelsberger competed in the 2024 IDM Superbike series with the goal of winning the title in Germany’s top road racing series. In the end, the BMW rider from Team GERT56 finished fourth in the overall standings, just one point behind his teammate Finsterbusch. The plan of the 28-year-old Bavarian from Landau an der Isar didn’t work out. But instead of being bitter, he is remarkably realistic.
With his victory and a third-place finish at the season opener at the Sachsenring, he initially seemed to be on the right track. “But then some really stupid things happened that should never have happened,” the trained carpenter recalls.
“Pax,” as everyone calls him, arrived at the next round in Oschersleben as the leader in the premier class, but nothing went right. It started with two crashes and a technical issue in practice. “In the first free practice session, I didn’t see the wet section. In the third free practice session, I put on a new tire and braked just a tiny bit too hard. That was it.” In the second session, he didn’t get very far either due to a technical issue. Hobelsberger, who had gone over a year without a crash, looked utterly dejected. Although he had qualified directly for Superpole 2 in the Superpole pre-practice, he didn’t get a chance in the decisive session—both because of his worn tires and due to the red-flag stoppage caused by a crash. All that was left for him was 14th on the grid. “That really went to shit,” he blurted out from the depths of his soul at the time. Not to mention the disqualification in the second race.
Later, in Most, Czech Republic, Pax veered off the line. Teammate Jan-Ole Jähnig slipped into the gap that opened up, which led to a rough collision when Hobelsberger returned to the track, dropping him back to 17th place. “By that point, I had already lost the title fight,” he is certain today, “and I had to improvise a lot. The races in Schleiz really did me a world of good afterward, especially the third-place finish in the first race, even though the track isn’t exactly my favorite.”
Although he missed third place in the overall standings by a single point, the season finale at Hockenheim was still a real highlight for him. “It took me six laps to close the one-second gap to Florian Alt, and then I had him. That was very satisfying and meant a lot to me. After the podium ceremony and changing clothes, I went over to him and told him. He’d fought hard in the race, and I’d fought hard. He was able to laugh about it with me, too.”
What’s next for Patrick “Pax” Hobelsberger? “No idea,” he insists, “there’s really nothing to say right now—not even close.”
