Lukas Tulovic is breaking one record after another in the IDM Superbike series. But in the first race at Most, Czech Republic, the Bavarian rider from Team Triple M Racing Ducati Frankfurt suffered a setback in his winning streak. Hannes Soomer (Masteroil Alpha Van Zon BMW) took the win—ironically, the very rival from whom Tulo had actually been trying to take the lead. And Florian Alt (Holzhauer Racing Promotion), riding the only Honda in the field, also finished ahead of the 25-year-old Panigale V4R rider.
32 degrees in the shade and 45 degrees on the asphalt
The sun did its best to create a scorching heatwave. At noon, the thermometer at the Most Autodrome read 32 degrees. The track surface was measured at 45 degrees. Many Superbike riders used the new development tire instead of Pirelli’s classic SC1. The D922 prototype tire is well-received. No one had tested it over a long distance like the 16 laps of 4.212 kilometers each, but it was clear anyway that resources would have to be conserved.
What happened at the front during those 16 laps was truly nerve-wracking. Tulovic, who had slid off the track during the warm-up on his Ducati Panigale V4R, shot off like a rocket at the start. However, Soomer squeezed past him just a few meters later. For the Estonian on the BMW, it was crystal clear that he wouldn’t voluntarily hand over the championship lead to Tulo. A single point separated the two.
When Argentine rider Tati Mercado (Masteroil Alpha Van Zon BMW) also passed Tulo, Tulo had had enough. Soomer was soon locked in a battle with Tulo again, while Alt had set his sights on Mercado. Toni Finsterbusch (GERT56 by RS Speedbikes), Lorenzo Zanetti (Triple M Ducati Frankfurt), and Jan-Ole Jähnig (GERT56 by RS Speedbikes) followed at a distance that ruled out any chance of catching up to the front-runners. Finsterbusch, however, was stronger on the brakes than any other rider.
Tulovic makes a mistake on the Ducati
By the eighth lap—exactly halfway through the race—the battle had intensified to the point where there was no holding back. Tulo was in the lead. Soomer steered the front wheel of his BMW from the outside into the corner, passing Tulovic. Soomer was taking lines that no one else would dare to take. Tulo was stunned and stared in disbelief at what had appeared right next to him. And he struck back. A minor slip-up narrowed the gap to his pursuer even further and confirmed that Tulo isn’t flawless after all. After his incredible lap in Superpole 2, many had thought the 25-year-old was from another planet.
Mercado had to take a back seat. Alt was fighting tooth and nail and had actually made it to the front—only to fall back behind Soomer, whose body checks sent shivers down the spines of spectators. Tulo had messed up and dropped back to third place. In the final laps, it didn’t look like he’d be able to make his way back up. With space in front and behind him, he finished third. When asked about his tires wearing out, Tulo waved it off: “That’s not the excuse. Everyone else had that too. It was a setup issue. I couldn’t hit the apex in the corner.”
Soomer wins by 0.059 seconds
The race was decided right at the finish line: Soomer won by a razor-thin margin of 0.059 seconds. Unbelievable. Soomer had to rub his eyes and was absolutely thrilled with how the race went. “I almost crashed twice,” he admitted, but otherwise it was his preferred style. The Estonian isn’t exactly delicate when it comes to passing, but he’s always fair. It was back and forth and side to side at the highest level. And Soomer still holds the lead in the standings. That was the plan.
For Florian Alt, the title race isn’t over yet, despite a mixed start to the season that included a scoreless race at Oschersleben. “We’ve shown that we perform really well in the heat and have fewer laps where we drop off.”
The GERT56 team had hoped to see Jan-Ole Jähnig on the podium. The Thuringian had started ambitiously from the second row. “That might have been the problem,” says technical specialist Ronny Schlieder. “In Superpole 2, he couldn’t get a perfect lap—there was always traffic on the track. JO kept trying, but he should have come into the pits, taken a breather, had his tire pressure checked, and then gone back out. That might have been better.”
IDM Superbike, Race 1
1. Hannes SOOMER (EST), BMW
2. Florian ALT (GER), Honda
3. Lukas TULOVIC (GER), Ducati
4. Toni FINSTERBUSCH (GER), BMW
5. Leandro MERCADO (ARG), BMW
6. Lorenzo ZANETTI (ITA), Ducati
7. Jan-Ole JÄHNIG (GER), BMW
8. Twan SMITS (NED), Yamaha
9. Maximilian KOFLER (AUT), Yamaha
10.Martin VUGRINEC (CRO), Kawasaki
11.Soma GÖRBE (HUN), BMW
12. Kevin ORGIS (GER), HUN
13. Sandro WAGNER (GER), BMW
14. Marco FETZ (GER), BMW
15. Leon ORGIS (GER), BMW