The International German Motorcycle Championship is back from the summer break, and the first mark has been made in the IDM Superbike class. In today’s Superpole pre-practice at the TT Circuit Assen, the usual suspects dominated—but in an unusual order. And right in the mix was World Championship guest rider Dominique Aegerter, who stepped in for the injured Jan Mohr on the SWPN-Yamaha. The atmosphere was electric.
Today, there was simply no stopping Jan-Ole Jähnig (GERT56 by RS Speedbikes)—from the first to the last lap of the 30-minute session. “That was a really good start to the weekend,” he said with a look that wouldn’t hurt a fly. Yet he had pushed as hard as he possibly could. With a lap time of 1:37.835 minutes on the 4.555-km TT Circuit, the GERT56 BMW rider left Ducati’s star rider and four-time winner Lukas Tulovic (Triple M Racing Ducati Frankfurt) in his wake by exactly 0.045 seconds.
Third place went to guest rider Dominique Aegerter. Profile: Swiss, 34 years old, blond curls, 12th in the Superbike World Championship, Yamaha expert. Bets had already been placed on him in the paddock beforehand regarding how well he would fare in the IDM Superbike series. His riding skills are well-known, but the Swiss rider from the canton of Bern was breaking new ground with the SWPN Yamaha. And he rocked the Ring. At first, he had to get used to the new chicane. “The bike doesn’t have quite as much power as my World Championship Yamaha,” he added, “but that’s nothing new. We also changed the seating position and the gear lever, worked on the electronics, and that was it.”
So far this year, no Yamaha has managed to get this far up the field. Even Ducati team boss Matthias Moser nodded in appreciation: “I wouldn’t have expected that, at least not so far up front. People always think the Yamaha is inferior, but with the right rider on it, it can obviously keep up.” SWPN team manager Frank Brouwer summed it up in six words: “That’s why Domi is here.”
For Moser, it has long been clear that Tulovic also belongs in the Superbike World Championship as soon as possible. “He’s 25 years old and the future belongs to him. I will definitely support him on his path.”
Florian Alt (Holzhauer Racing Promotion) posted the fourth-fastest time in Superpole Pre-Practice and took a tumble at the end, though he didn’t sustain any serious injuries. He was riding at the limit. “Just like always,” he interjected. Alt was the last rider to clock a 1:37 lap time. He arrived in Assen as the leader in the IDM Superbike class and holds a three-point lead over Tulovic.
Hannes Soomer (Masteroil Alpha Van Zon BMW) returned to action with the fifth-fastest time. The Estonian had to sit out the Oschersleben round before the IDM summer break due to a hand injury, but is clearly back in shape. The BMW rider focused entirely on his recovery and did not participate in the World Endurance Championship at Suzuka. His teammate, Leandro Mercado, had made the trip to Japan.
In today’s Superpole pre-practice session, the twelve fastest riders qualified for Superpole 2, where the top starting positions for Sunday’s two races will be decided tomorrow. The gaps in the timesheets are razor-thin. But as Jan-Ole Jähnig so aptly put it: “Friday went well. We’ll have to wait and see about the rest.”
Superpole Pre-Practice Results:
Jan-Ole JÄHNIG (BMW), Lukas TULOVIC (Ducati), Dominique AEGERTER (Yamaha), Florian ALT (Honda), Hannes SOOMER (BMW), Leandro MERCADO (BMW), Toni FINSTERBUSCH (BMW), Bálint KOVÁCS (BMW), Twan SMITS (Yamaha), Maximilian KOFLER (Yamaha), Lorenzo ZANETTI (Ducati), Milan MERCKELBAGH (BMW), Leon ORGIS (BMW), Patrick HOBELSBERGER (BMW), Soma GÖRBE (BMW), Kevin ORGIS (BMW), Max SCHMIDT (BMW), Martin VUGRINEC (Kawasaki), Sandro WAGNER (BMW), Christoph BEINLICH (BMW), Moritz JENKNER (BMW), Marc NEUMANN (BMW)