Lukas Tulovic didn’t complete a single test on his Ducati Panigale V4R Superbike during the IDM summer break. The second-place rider in the championship hopes to take the lead from Florian Alt at Assen. “Tulo” is well aware of the red diva’s advantages over the competition and has even begun exploring opportunities in the Superbike World Championship.
Germany’s top motorcycle racing series returns to the track in Assen, Netherlands, on August 15. “Then we’ll see what happens,” says the 25-year-old from Eberbach, Baden-Württemberg. He trails Florian Alt, the only Honda rider in the field, by three points in the standings. “Of course, I want to change that and be right at the front,” he admits without hesitation. “We don’t have any data for the Ducati to draw on, but the track characteristics suit us. The course is fast and flows well, which also suits me personally.”
Tulo explains what makes him so strong and dominant: “The Ducati has great acceleration from low revs. And in second and third gear, it just really pushes forward. That’s a real advantage over the competition. And then there’s the grip in the long, fast corners—that’s a real plus. That’s the only reason I was able to pass Florian Alt at the Schleizer Dreieck.” Only when he struggles to modulate the clutch properly—as he did recently in Oschersleben—and the front wheel lifts off the ground at the start does Tulo lose time and ground. Matthias Moser, team boss of Triple M Racing Ducati Frankfurt, made a statement at the start of the season: “We want to win the title, and that’s why we brought in Lukas.” But there are still six races to go.
It’s only natural that Tulovic is looking into securing a spot in the Superbike World Championship for 2026. He made his first move alongside team boss Moser as they walked through the paddock at the Superbike World Championship event at the new Balaton Park Circuit in Hungary. “The World Championship times and my IDM times aren’t that far apart when you compare the results from the races at Most,” Tulo explains the initiative from the last weekend in July, “and of course we’ll do everything we can to secure a spot, but we’re not the only ones. That’s why we’re already shopping around.”
Over the past few weeks, Tulovic has been coaching nonstop at Philipp Hafeneger’s motorcycle training sessions, and yesterday and the day before yesterday at Hockenheim as a coach for the ADAC Sport Foundation’s young motorcycle talents. There, he really pushed himself to the limit on a 250cc Honda from the Northern Talent Cup. Tulo was having a blast. “Robin Siegert, Smilla Göttlich, Anina Urlaß, and Jason Rudolph set the pace. I first had to fold up my 184 cm frame and 67 kilos. It’s simply impossible to just hop onto the NTC bike.”
