The Supersport of the International German Motorcycle Championship (IDM) is set to kick off its next round at the Schleizer Dreieck—and the excitement is already building even before the first race. Although Dirk Geiger (MCS Racing) secured pole position in qualifying, someone else will be at the front of the grid when the race starts.
Penalty shakes up the starting grid
Dirk Geiger set the fastest lap time of 1:26.610 minutes and was the man to beat in practice. But the Honda rider will have to start Saturday afternoon’s first race from fourth place. The reason: missing tire stickers in the first qualifying session—a rule violation that has dropped him three spots down the grid. He remains calm about it, though: “That doesn’t change the fact that I feel ready for a strong race. The bike is running well, and I always feel comfortable at Schleiz.”
Van der Voort crashes—but retains second place on the grid
The front row will therefore be led by others: Melvin van der Voort (Track and Trades Wixx Racing) will start from P2, even though his qualifying session was marred by a crash. On lap four of the first qualifying session, the Dutch rider went off the track at Turn 1. It was a blessing in disguise—he wasn’t injured, and the medical center gave him the green light for the second qualifying session. His previous lap time of 1:26.715 was enough to secure a spot on the front row.
Blin is strong – Rörig surprises
Daniel Blin (AF Racing Team) made the most of both qualifying sessions, improving slightly again in Q2 to round out the front row in third place. Behind him, Marcel Brenner (MotoLife) leads the field on the second row of the grid. Julius Caesar Rörig was also surprisingly strong—the MCA rider already showed at the season opener in Oschersleben that he is a force to be reckoned with this season, and in Schleiz as well, he showed a noticeable upward trend from practice to practice. The result: fifth on the grid—next to his teammate Dirk Geiger. Marvin Siebdrath (Yamalube Motorsport Kofler) is in sixth place on the grid.
Crashes in Q1 – Kofler battles on
Luca De Vleeschauwer (Track and Trades Wixx Racing) crashed in Q1 at the same spot as van der Voort—just one lap earlier. The Belgian even slid all the way under the tire barriers, but emerged unharmed. Although his bike was repaired, he couldn’t do better than eighth place, as he also had to end Q2 early due to technical issues.
Defending champion Andreas Kofler (Yamalube Motorsport Kofler) also had a difficult start to the weekend. After a crash in the Seng—the fastest section of the Schleizer Dreieck—during the first free practice session on Friday, his motorcycle was heavily damaged. His team worked late into the night to get the Yamaha YZF-R6 back in race shape in time for qualifying. But Kofler remains realistic: “The bike is working, and I can ride—that’s the most important thing for scoring points. But I probably won’t be able to tear up the track this weekend.”
The action continues this Saturday afternoon with the first IDM Supersport race Supersport 4:05 p.m. – as always, available via free livestream at: www.idm.de/live.
IDM Supersport Results, Q1+Q2:
- Dirk GEIGER (GER), Honda
- Melvin VAN DER VOORT (NLD), Ducati
- Daniel BLIN (POL), Ducati
- Marcel BRENNER (CHE), Ducati
- Julius Caesar RÖRIG (GER), Honda
- Marvin SIEBDRATH (GER), Yamaha
- Štepán ZUDA (CZW), Yamaha
- Luca DE VLEESCHAUWER (BEL), Ducati
- Lennox LEHMANN (GER), Yamaha
- Filip FEIGL (CZE), Triumph
- Andreas KOFLER (AUT), Yamaha
- Till Benedikt BELCZYKOWSKI (GER), MV Agusta
- Luca GÖTTLICHER (GER), Kawasaki
- Dylan CZARKOWSKI (NLD), Yamaha
- Ruben BIJMAN (NLD), Honda