Last weekend, the Champion-alpha-Van Zon-BMW team had only a short trip ahead of them. For the Belgian team led by team boss Werner Daemen, the trip took them to their Dutch neighbours. The TT Circuit in Assen was the venue for the fifth round of the International German Motorcycle Championship IDM. As always, Ilya Mikhalchik from Ukraine, Bálint Kovács from Hungary, Philipp Steinmayr and Jan Mohr from Austria were on the grid in the IDM Superbike. German Max Schmidt also travelled to the event, but only as mental support for his teammates. He himself is still suffering from the effects of a broken upper arm.

Ilya Mikhalchik had travelled to Assen first in the standings after his double success at the last IDM event at the Schleizer Dreieck. The BMW rider’s goal was to extend his lead. In the rainy free practice on Friday, Mikhalchik proved with the best time that he is now a force to be reckoned with even in the rain, which he is not exactly a fan of. However, the weather forecast was favourable and he was fastest in Superpole Pre Practice and advanced to Superpole 2. The Ukrainian would have loved to have given himself a nice 28th birthday present with pole position. But his partner Milana’s cake was not enough. His staunch rival Florian Alt snatched the best time from him by a tenth of a second. Mikhalchik took the safe bet and announced a party after the race on Sunday.

He laid the groundwork for a party in the first race. Although the start was not quite flawless, the BMW driver managed to brake his way to the lead in the first corner. While his biggest rival Alt crashed into a highsider, Mikhalchik was able to do his thing over the entire distance and secured the first win of the day with a 7.5-second lead. What looked easy was nevertheless hard work. ‘We only had a few laps on dry in practice,’ Mikhalchik said, ’and some guys were testing here beforehand, so it wasn’t easy for us. But we were confident, we delivered again and that makes me happy. Also looking forward to the second race.’

Race 2 started from the first starting position for Ilya Mikhalchik after Alt pulled out after injuring his hand in a crash in the morning. He had a few laps to go until he passed his BMW colleagues Finsterbusch and Jähnig. On the 12th lap, Hannes Soomer, who had been driving in the lead until then, was also up. Once past, Mikhalchik was unstoppable and race number 2 also went to the Ukrainian. ‘It was pretty tough,’ Mikhalchik explained afterwards. ‘I made a mistake at the start and therefore lost some speed on the straight. After that, I had to stay calm. The guys around me were really fast. I watched everything, stayed calm and then went into the last third. It was a bit more interesting than the first race. But I’m happy, this was my tenth win in Assen.’
And not only that. Mikhalchik was able to extend his lead in the standings and is now 58 points ahead with four races to go.

Bálint Kovács proved to be water resistant, especially on the rainy Friday. He did not worry and drove one fast lap after another and was constantly among the frontrunners. After going straight through to Superpole 2 – for which only the fastest 12 are eligible – he captured the 10th starting spot for the race. ‘Based on our experiences from last year and this year, we found the optimal set-up and it turned out well,’ he confirmed. ‘My start is not optimal, I still need to work on that. We were going in the right direction with the set-up, but I made a mistake on the fast lap and in such a tight championship that is not good enough. I am confident that I have a good race pace.’

The start of the first race was more in the middle of the pack, but Kovács immediately started to make up for this mistake. But then two other bikes got in his way in the chicane before the start and finish. Thomas Gradinger had cleared Luca Grünwald and Kovács could not get away directly behind him and also went down. But the Hungarian did not leave it at that, jumped back on his slightly battered BMW and gave chase. However, 20th place at the finish was no real consolation for the athlete.

The second race in the IDM Superbike was much more civilised. Kovács put in an almost flawless performance and skillfully kept the attackers at bay. ‘A great race,’ he cheered deservedly at the finish. ‘I’m really happy to be so close to the podium. And sixth place is really mega after the unfortunate crash in Race 1. I felt strong again from the start with my race pace. But what I really need to work on is my qualifying. That’s for sure. Just to have a better starting position and more chance of a podium finish.’

Philipp Steinmayr had travelled to the far north from Upper Austria and performed well on the GP circuit. In the rain and in the dry. The new training format is not quite his thing yet. Again, he ended up directly in Superpole 2, where only the top 12 are allowed to start directly and the three fastest riders from Superpole 1 move up. He even managed to improve his time in the final practice, but still had to settle for 14th place on the grid. ‘I find it difficult,’ he revealed, ’to squeeze out a fast time on command. From 14th starting place, it is difficult in the race.’

But with two top-ten finishes, eighth in Race 1 and 10th in the second race, Steinmayr delivered good performances as usual. ‘Both starts were solid,’ he explained after the job was done. ‘We had changed something on the bike so I had more grip on the rear wheel. In the first race, I was up against Thomas Gradinger, who was on his last legs. But I still had my wits about me. Normally I often annoy myself that I always leave half a length of space, but this time it paid off when Gradinger and two other riders got in front of me and I came through well. In the second run, I made a mistake myself in turn 4. It was my own mistake. It was my own mistake. Then I was behind Rob Hartog and was a bit too impatient, so I went wide in the chicane and ended up somewhere in 15th place.’

However, Steinmayr then got back into his usual rhythm and set times similar to those in qualifying. With momentum, he overtook teammate Jan Mohr in the closing stages and finished 10th. ‘It wasn’t my best weekend,’ summed up Steinmayr, ’but after my mistake, 10th place was still great. The bike went great.’

Jan Mohr had travelled to Assen from Austria with his entire family and also had his brother Ken with him, who gave a demonstration of his talent in the R7 Cup and together they celebrated his first podium finish. In the IDM Superbike, he then concentrated fully on the set-up of his BMW. The partly rainy Friday was followed by a direct jump to the top riders and Superpole 12, where things got tight again and Mohr was also able to shave a few tenths off his lap time. He then secured grid position 12 for the race.

Having finished 10th and 11th in the two races, Mohr had to admit that it was a very difficult weekend for him. ‘From the start it didn’t go as well as I had hoped and I just struggled. I wasn’t where I wanted to be in training and what I expected of myself. Why didn’t things improve? I honestly don’t have an explanation. Not much is missing. In the second race, I was only nine seconds behind third at the finish. It’s not a world, but these are results I’m not happy with. It can be better and it has to be better.’

‘We ran out of ideas for improvement at Assen,’ says Mohr, ’but we have already tested at the Nürburgring and I hope we can find something there that will allow me to finish in the top five. My brother managed to turn the tide for our family. He came up first in the last chicane, it was mega. I was very happy for him and we will go full throttle again at the Nürburgring.’

Max Schmidt kept his teammates company in the pits and expertly made his debut at the microphone of the IDM livestream, where he provided focused commentary on the IDM Supersport race.

There is not much time for a break. In ten days, the trip to the Nürburgring awaits, where IDM race number 6 awaits.

Results

Results IDM Superbike Assen

IDM Superbike Starting Grid

1. Florian Alt (D), Honda 1.37,818 min
2. Ilya Mikhalchik (UKR), BMW 1.37,991 min
3. Hannes Soomer (EST), BMW 137,997 min
10. Bálint Kovács (HU), BMW 1.38,056 min
12. Jan Mohr (A), BMW 1.39,118 min
14. Philipp Steinmayr (A), BMW 1.39,329 min

IDM Superbike Results Race 1

1. Ilya Mikhalchik (UKR), BMW
2. Hannes Soomer (EST), BMW + 7,508 sec
3. Patrick Hobelsberger (D), BMW + 2,238
8. Philipp Steinmayr (A), BMW + 5,395
10. Jan Mohr (A), BMW + 0,838
20. Bálint Kovács (HU), BMW

IDM Superbike Results Race 2

1. Ilya Mikhalchik (UKR), BMW 12. Rd.
2. Hannes Soomer (EST), BMW + 1,283 sec.
3. Patrick Hobelsberger (D), BMW + 3,100
6. Bálint Kovács (HU), BMW + 1,082
10. Philipp Steinmayr (A), BMW + 0,170
11. Jan Mohr (A), BMW + 1,241

Overall standings IDM Superbike after 10 out of 14 races

1. 213 Punkte Ilya Mikhalchik (UKR), BMW
2. 155 Punkte Florian Alt (D), Honda
3. 124 Punkte Patrick Hobelsberger (D), BMW
8. 82 Punkte Bálint Kovács (HU), BMW
10. 52 Punkte Philipp Steinmayr (A), BMW
15. 31 Punkte Jan Mohr (A), BMW

Photos

More photos on our team website:

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