Only three riders have finished every IDM Superbike race so far and scored points in the process: Toni Finsterbusch and Jan-Ole Jähnig (GERT56 by RS Speedbikes) as well as Twan Smits (Apreco Ten Kate Yamaha Racing). If you want to succeed, you can’t afford to make any mistakes. As far as points are concerned, the two Germans still see room for improvement.
Toni Finsterbusch last saw his GERT56 BMW on July 6. He remembers it clearly, “because we loaded it into the transport van together in Oschersleben on race Sunday evening. After that, we headed into the summer break.” That was five weeks ago. Finsterbusch shows no signs of serious withdrawal symptoms, “but I’m really looking forward to unpacking it again on Thursday.” Then the official IDM summer break will be over, and the second chapter of the season will begin in Assen, Netherlands.
The fact that he has finished every race so far and always scored points makes the 32-year-old from Saxony quite proud. Last year, he kept that streak going until the end of the season. He’s only crashed during practice, though the Krostitz native has developed a particularly close bond with the Schleizer Dreieck. There’s a damn close connection between them.
Finsterbusch is one of the veterans in the field; he knows his way around and knows where the limits are. “The bike has a good setup and I feel very confident,” says the rider with start number “56,” but adds, “if you have bad luck in the first chicane at Most, where it gets tight, you can still quickly find yourself out of the running. Or in the first Nürburgring corner.”
So far, “Fibu” has stayed out of the fray and stuck to his guns. He returns to the track this coming weekend as the fourth-place rider in the top class of the IDM. “I don’t feel any pressure from the team to move up the order—I put that pressure on myself,” he says, feeling a tingle of excitement. Last year, he finished third overall. To achieve that, he’d now have to displace Estonian Hannes Soomer from that spot. “I certainly don’t want to do worse than last year. So I have to score good points and give the guys around me a little trouble. On Mondays, though, I have to be able to show up for work again. That’s not the case for some of the top riders among us. But I have to stick with it.”
Fibu spent the summer break at Lake Garda with his teammate and buddy Jan-Ole Jähnig. They covered about 400 kilometers on gravel bikes. These are a kind of hybrid between road and cyclocross bikes and are suitable for both road and off-road riding. “JO” is sixth overall in the IDM Superbike standings, and Finsterbusch believes there’s still a lot to come from the 24-year-old from Thuringia and rising star on the team: “His races are just getting started. In Schleiz, where he really enjoys racing, he made it onto the podium.” There are no team orders. At least not until the IDM finale in Hockenheim. “If significant decisions were to be made there, that would be a different story.”
