He won five races in the IDM Supersport last year Supersport was crowned champion. Now Andreas Kofler from Austria wants to defend his title, but he faces stiffer competition than ever before.
“I don’t race with the number 1 on my fairing,” Kofler makes clear right away, adding, “Even though I won the championship, I’m still the same old me, and I’m keeping my number 19 because it’s brought me luck.” And then he adds, “But it’s gold.”
So far, the 20-year-old Yamaha rider from the family-run team called “Yamalube Kofler Motorsport” has only half-heartedly looked into his competitors. There are still some question marks. Kofler only knows that quite a few riders are just waiting to knock him off his throne. “Melvin van der Voort for sure, plus Luca de Vleeschauwer, Dirk Geiger, Lennox Lehmann, Marcel Brenner, and Marvin Siebdrath, too. He was really good during testing. I think everyone who Supersport in the IDM Supersport last year has stepped up their game over the winter. With the current lineup, we’re looking at the strongest Supersport in a long time. A week from today, once qualifying is over, I’ll have a better idea.” The season opener of the International German Motorcycle Championship (IDM) will take place in Oschersleben from May 9–11.
Cramming at the police academy instead of test days
The Upper Austrian has never really let anything rattle him, though, even though he hasn’t spent much time on his motorcycle in recent months due to his health. “It just wasn’t possible, either time-wise or financially. But we were just testing in Oschersleben, and I feel in good shape,” says the Upper Austrian, “very fit, in fact. I’m at last year’s level, if not even better.” And the racer from Attnang-Puchheim leaves no doubt when he says, “We definitely want to be right up front, and I’m very confident about that.”
Instead of spending more time on his motorcycle, Kofler has been buried in his textbooks from the police academy. He has quite a bit of studying to do. “Before our team heads to Oschersleben on Thursday, I have a criminal law exam on Wednesday.”