Ducati newcomer Lukas Tulovic (Triple M Racing Ducati Frankfurt) showed what he’s made of for the first time. With a best lap time of 1:24.723, he gave a preview during pre-practice of what to expect at the first IDM event of the year at the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben. Florian Alt (Holzhauer Racing Promotion) and Leandro Mercado (Motoroil Alpha Van Zon BMW) also stayed under the 1:25 mark.
In 2025, Ducati will be using Magneti Marelli’s official stock electronics in the Panigale V4R. Lukas Tulovic was already leading the IDM Superbike field during the first ten minutes of the pre-practice session. “That’s why we brought him on board,” said team boss Matthias Moser, visibly pleased. The fact that “Tulo” ran out of gas on the final lap was a minor hiccup. Lorenzo Zanetti, who finished seventh overall last year, happened to be ranked P7 today—much to Moser’s satisfaction. “He’s significantly faster than last year. Back then, he barely made it into SP2 at the last minute. His strengths lie more in the races than in qualifying.” Ducati wants the title—they make no secret of that.
“What the Ducatis have on board is really impressive,” says Florian Alt, who celebrated his 29th birthday a week and a half ago. The only Honda rider in the field clocked a time of 1:24.779 min. “We’re still lacking a bit of rear-wheel grip. Sure, securing pole position tomorrow in SP2 would be great. But the main thing is that we win both races and score 50 points.”
Florian Alt: “Tati is a racing pig”
Argentine Leandro “Tati” Mercado, who has moved from Kawasaki to Werner Damen’s BMW championship-winning team, seems to have hit the jackpot. He now forms the spearhead of the official BMW factory team—alongside Estonian Hannes Soomer—which has won six titles in the last eight years. For Mercado, everything related to BMW is completely new territory, but the competition doesn’t seem to notice. His time: 1:24.861 min. “I see Tati ahead of Hannes Soomer. Tati is a racing beast,” says Alt, who finished as runner-up last year and was previously champion in Germany’s top motorcycle racing class.
Tomorrow, Saturday, the battle for starting positions will really heat up again. As a reminder: Today, during a half-hour “Superpole Pre-Practice,” the twelve fastest riders qualified for Superpole 2, where the top starting positions will be determined.
So they will no longer be in the mix when all the other riders compete for their starting positions in Superpole 1 tomorrow. The top three from Superpole 1 will advance to Superpole 2, thereby maintaining their chances of securing one of the top spots. Superpole 2 will determine starting positions 1 through 15. The remaining starting positions will be assigned in order based on the Superpole 1 results. These starting positions will apply to both races.
Pre-Practice Results: Lukas TULOVIC (Ducati), Florian ALT (Honda), Leandro MERCADO (BMW), Toni FINSTERBUSCH (BMW), Jan-Ole JÄHNIG (BMW), Hannes SOOMER (BMW), Lorenzo ZANETTI (Ducati), Jan MOHR (Yamaha), Kevin ORGIS (BMW), Maximilian KOFLER (Yamaha), Ricardo BRINK (BMW), Milan MERCKELBAGH (BMW).
