Race report IDM 2021 Oschersleben

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Race report IDM 2021 Oschersleben
Dino Eisele

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Motorsport

Race report IDM 2021 Oschersleben

Race report IDM 2021 Oschersleben
Capricious weather, explosive races, surprises

The IDM couldn’t have started more exciting. The season opener in Germany’s highest series on two wheels turned into a rollercoaster of emotions. Constantly changing weather thwarted many teams and drivers, but also resulted in new winners.


Anke Wieczorek

05/25/2021

In this article:

  • IDM Superbike 1000
  • Second IDM Superbike 1000 race
  • IDM Supersport 600
  • IDM Supersport 300

IDM Superbike 1000

The IDM Superbike 1000, in which the motorcycle brands BMW, Honda, Kawasaki and Yamaha are fighting for their image, began with a wet race over 18 laps. That means: The race of the over 200 HP strong motorcycles is not stopped even if the weather changes in order to change the tires. Florian Alt (Wilbers-BMW-Racing) opted for rain tires on pole position. With that he made the same choice as two thirds of the field.

Marc Moser (Bonovo Action by MGM Racing), who had dominated free practice, risked everything in second starting position and relied entirely on slicks with no profile. And then there were drivers who had their bikes equipped differently at the front and rear, including the Swiss Dominic Schmitter (Hess Racing), the Belgian Bastien Mackels (SWPN) and Alessandro Polita (HRP-Honda) from Italy. Polita wasn’t entirely sure that this would work, but it was worth the try to move up from ninth on the grid.


Race report IDM 2021 Oschersleben


Dino Eisele

Marc Moser (Bonovo Action by MGM Racing): “I also really pushed again, because I wanted the lead to be enough in case it started raining again.”

At first the decision seemed to be a mistake, but in the course of the race it turned out to be spot-on. On the drier track, the drivers with slicks got better and better, while pole setter old slipped out of the top ten. In return, Moser had sat at the head of the field and in the end the victory could no longer be taken from him: “I also really pushed again, because I wanted the lead to be enough in case it started raining again.” Dominic Schmitter was second ahead of Bastien Mackels. Yamaha celebrated a triple success with riders who come from three countries: Germany, Switzerland and Belgium.

Julian Puffe brought the first BMW to the finish as fourth in the new GERT56 superbike team. Alex Polita, the only Honda rider in the field, finished fifth. Valentin Debise drove the best Kawasaki. The Frenchman arrived eighth. The IDM Superbike 1000 couldn’t have started more exciting.

Second IDM Superbike 1000 race

The second IDM Superbike 1000 race marked a turning point in the premier class. The two-time champion Ilya Mikhalchik won the race on the new BMW M 1000 RR of the EGS-alpha-Van Zon-BMW team. At the same time he took the lead in the standings. Luca Grunwald (Kiefer Racing Team) was second ahead of Vladimir Leonov (Hertrampf MO Yamaha Racing). It took until the last corner on the last lap, not least because of the starting line-up based on the reverse procedure, until this result was achieved.


Race report IDM 2021 Oschersleben


Dino Eisele

IDM Superbike 1000

Mikhalchik was already at the finish when it finally got down to business 8.5 seconds behind him. Grunwald grabbed the Russian completely in the drift in the last corner. The IDM Superbike 1000 premiere of Jochen Kiefer’s former World Championship team was a success. “In the chicane on the other hand, Vladimir was faster than me and then I made a few mistakes. So I only had the last chicane to come by”, reported Grunwald. After the two races in Oschersleben, Mikhalchik (34 points) leads the overall standings in the IDM Superbike 1000 ahead of Schmitter (31), Mackels (29), Leonov (26) and Moser (25).

IDM Supersport 600

In the IDM Supersport 600 there was a double victory for Valentin Debise (Kawasaki Weber-Motos Racing). He also drives the IDM Superbike 1000 and is one of the favorites there, but the French driver is a real frequent driver and has also registered in the medium displacement class. With success. In the first race the drizzle got stronger and stronger. The race management broke off the run. The finish after the eighth lap was included in the ranking. A restart was not carried out due to the persistently unclear weather situation. The Bavarian Yamaha rider Patrick Hobelsberger (Bonovo Action by MGM) and Marcel Brenner (Hess Racing) from Switzerland joined the podium in the debise that had dominated up to then.


Race report IDM 2021 Oschersleben


Dino Eisele

IDM Supersport 600

Debise was also in a class of its own in the second race of the super athletes. It had to be held in two parts, because the bad weather again meant that an interruption was inevitable. The second start took place after the finish line was set up before the demolition. Debise extended his lead as the leader to over 21 seconds. With his commitment, the team from Switzerland and the supporting importer from Germany have landed a goldfish.

Rob Hartog, who also took second place in the table as the runner-up in the race, was just happy about the podium result. His 20-year-old team-mate Dino Iozzo from South Africa came third. It was a complete success for team manager Rob Vennegoor. “We’re new to the IDM Supersport 600 and don’t know the motorcycles that well either.” But he also expects his pilots to finish in the top five in the dry. In the overall standings Debise leads (50 points) ahead of Hartog (31) and Hobelsberger (26).

In the Superstock 600 Cup, which is held as part of the IDM Supersport 600 and which is evaluated separately and in which less work is allowed to be done on the motorcycles, Noah Lequeux (Yamaha) from Luxembourg is the front runner.

IDM Supersport 300

The man of the hour in the first race of the IDM Supersport 300 was Marvin Siebdrath (Team Fusport – RT Motorsports by SKM-Kawasaki). The 17-year-old Kawasaki rider fought an exciting fight with defending champion Lennox Lehmann (Freudenberg KTM WorldSSP Team), who missed victory by just 0.079 seconds. Third place went to class newcomer Twan Smits (Apreco) on a Yamaha. Dirk Geiger (Freudenberg KTM WorldSSP Team), who was in charge at the beginning, could not keep up at the top for long. The 18-year-old from Mannheim was passed in the field and ended up in 12th place. “We already had the problem with the electronics in free practice on Friday, but were able to fix it for qualifying. For reasons not yet clear to us, it unfortunately occurred again in the middle of the race”, explained team boss Carsten Freudenberg after the race. Toni Erhard (Roto-Store BRT), 2018 champion, had to give up early after a fall in the first third of the race. Here, too, the weather conditions had been anything but peace, joy, sunshine. Instead, wind, changing conditions and a 60 percent dry track kept difficult conditions in store for the drivers.


Race report IDM 2021 Oschersleben


Dino Eisele

IDM Supersport 300

The second race in the junior class ended with a photo finish. The 15-year-old Lennox Lehmann (Freudenberg KTM WorldSSP) can now call himself not only champion of 2020, but also race winner. The Dresdner was on the top podium for the first time today and was at the top of the overall ranking with 45 points. “Having a victory under my belt after my championship title is something very special for me”, he was happy. The race also turned out to be surprisingly different for him than initially thought. “My team-mate Dirk Geiger and I quickly pulled away from the field. I thought the other drivers would no longer be able to get to us. A few laps later they were suddenly right behind me and I knew: I have to move forward as quickly as possible.” Geiger secured 20 championship points with second place and is thus fifth in the overall standings. Right behind Lehmann are opening winners Marvin Siebdrath (38 points) and Luca de Vleeschauwer (29). The 18-year-old from the Fusport – RT Motorsports by SKM – Kawasaki team came third in the second race.

No serious accidents

“The first event is in the can. We experienced extremely exciting races. The results promise an exciting championship with a lot of variety”, IDM series manager Normann Broy draws a conclusion. “Despite the constantly changing weather conditions, there were no serious accidents. This is very important to us. The driver’s safety must be guaranteed. Of course, we missed the spectators who were not allowed to be on site due to the Corona regulations. But we think and hope that this will change soon. At the moment we are in good spirits.” The IDM promoter and organization team pulled out all the stops in Oschersleben in order to be able to carry out the event. It was framed by the Northern Talent Cup, the Twin Cup and the Pro Superstock Cup. The races were broadcast via livestream.

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