Last weekend, tens of thousands of fans lined the track around the Schleizer Dreieck in Thuringia, where racing still takes place partly on public roads and which represents an absolute challenge for man and machine in the calendar of the International German Motorcycle Championship IDM. As always, the Champion-alpha-Van Zon-BMW team led by Belgian Werner Daemen with its quartet of riders Ilya Mikhalchik (Ukraine), Philipp Steinmayr (Austria), Bálint Kovács (Hungary) and the recovering Jan Mohr (Austria) were at the start of the Superbike class. Max Schmidt, who was injured in a crash on the Grand Prix circuit in Barcelona, was unable to take part.

Ilya Mikhalchik had travelled around the world before the first free practice session in Schleiz. Just a few days earlier, the Ukrainian had been racing for manufacturer BMW in the World Endurance Championship in Suzuka, Japan, where he and his colleagues had finished fifth. But there was no sign of jet lag for Mikhalchik and he did his job with flying colours. He set the fastest time with a lap of 1:23.444 minutes. However, he then started the race from 4th on the grid. Race control had penalised him because his rear light did not light up as required in the third free practice session in semi-wet conditions. Team boss Werner Daemen actively campaigned for his protégé, but in the end he had to swallow the penalty.

It had rained heavily before the first race and the grip conditions were correspondingly poor. No problem for Mikhalchik. ‘It’s important,’ he explained shortly before the start, well shielded by his mum who had travelled from Kiev, ‘not to make a mistake like last year. There were still a few damp patches down the city and I’m going to take it easy and have a look at the whole thing first.” No sooner said than done. In the first few laps, he kept a low profile behind Florian Alt and Markus Reiterberger. After the first half of the race, he then overtook Alt and on the last lap it was the turn of his BMW colleague Reiterberger. Mikhalchik won the race by one second, gave it to his partner Milana as a birthday present and also took the overall lead in the standings.

The fans were presented with an identical picture in the afternoon. Once again, Mikhalchik first fought down Florian Alt and then caught Markus Reiterberger on the last lap after a remarkable chase. ‘You had to be clever in the second race,’ he said after his double victory, even after there was a lot of oil binding agent on the track. “But my pace was good, especially from the middle of the race, and I felt better than in the first race. I had everything under control and had to take it down to the last lap. But it worked out and I was able to clinch my eighth victory in Schleiz.” He was able to extend his lead in the overall standings to eight points with the double victory.

Philipp Steinmayr was happy to finally be back on the track. ‘Four weeks without a motorbike,’ he said, describing his IDM break and the associated longing for his ride. The Austrian made it into Superpole 2, where the 12 best grid positions were at stake, at the first attempt.

A top ten finish was on his wish list. Steinmayr didn’t quite manage that in the first race of the day with 12th place. After a good start, Steinmayr was in ninth place after the first lap and passed his pit crew. After the halfway point, he dropped back to 12th place, which Steinmayr then held until the finish line. ‘The race itself wasn’t so much to rave about,’ he admitted afterwards as he diligently signed autographs. “It was all very close and I was aiming for 7th or 8th place. And I was in good spirits at first. But then I had to deal with the grip, which deteriorated significantly from the middle of the race onwards. That’s when you get stuck and your arm gets more and more tight. Then one or two small mistakes creep in. In the end, I was able to regroup and stay with the guys in front of me, but I couldn’t get past them.”

He then crossed the finish line in 11th place in the second race in the afternoon. ‘The course was similar,’ said the Austrian. “My team had changed something again and the grip was noticeably better. My start was good, but I was a bit hesitant due to all the oil slicks. That threw me off my stride a little, because you end up looking where you shouldn’t be looking. And then you don’t hit the line perfectly. My mistake, but it got better towards the end and my times were also better than in race 1, but unfortunately too late.”

During the four-week IDM break, Bálint Kovács had been busy promoting himself and his sport and paid a visit to Lake Balaton in Hungary and the circuit in Brno in the Czech Republic. Kovács has fond memories of the special racetrack in Schleiz. “In 2019, I competed there in the Suzuki Cup and took pole position, the fastest race lap and two race wins. Last year, things didn’t go so well for me in the IDM Superbike at Schleiz, but now I’m going into the weekend with more experience and also more knowledge.”

In the practice sessions, the Hungarian left no doubt that he wanted to fight for one of the top positions, just like in the last races. The BMW man started the first Superbike race of the day from 8th on the grid. ‘I’m not completely satisfied,’ he revealed before the start of the race. “My goal is the top five. But I’m confident about my race pace.” The initial phase of the first race did not go so smoothly for him, as he finished his first lap in twelfth place. But giving up is not an option for the ambitious Hungarian, who has already finished on the podium twice at the IDM in Oschersleben. He then fought his way up to ninth place.

The top ten result in Schleiz was no flash in the pan and Kovács again finished 9th in Race 2. ‘Compared to last year, I had a good weekend,’ he said. “Because 2023 was my weakest. Now things went better right from the start and I was able to keep up with the fast guys. It was all very close. In the first race, I had to fight my way back after a bad start. Even though I finished 9th again in the second race, it was a better race. My pace was better and in the second half I was even able to fight for sixth place, with a view to fifth place. We then touched each other when trying to overtake, which cost me two seconds. Now comes Assen, I like the track and I did well there last year too.”

Jan Mohr was finally back after weeks of injury. The Austrian had broken his shoulder blade during testing at Oschersleben in May and has been sidelined ever since. ‘I was only able to do a few laps beforehand,’ explained the Austrian, ‘so the preparation wasn’t quite ideal. But I felt very good.”

In Schleiz, racing was the order of the day again with a perfectly functioning shoulder. Mohr then caused a scary moment on Friday when he crashed spectacularly. He himself escaped with a scare and a few bruises, but his BMW was badly damaged after several somersaults in the gravel. ‘I lost the front wheel, as if out of nowhere,’ said Mohr. ‘We still don’t know why.’ Everything was then repaired for the Superpole and, with a small diversions via Superpole 1, Mohr made it to 9th place on the grid. ‘Not a brilliant performance,’ was his verdict, ‘but I was very satisfied considering the circumstances.’

A top ten result in race 1 then came to nothing for Mohr. ‘I felt comfortable,’ says Mohr, ‘but after a few laps I lost the gear lever and had to pit. At the second attempt in race 2, he then finished 12th. ‘I realised beforehand that the 18 race laps would be brutally tough,’ explains the Austrian. “I simply wasn’t fit enough due to the injury. I tried to conserve my energy, but it was mega exhausting. The second half was incredibly arduous, I just couldn’t go on. The result wasn’t so important, it was just important for me to get back on the bike. In terms of speed I was very satisfied, without the crash I could have done more of course. But I’m glad that I’ve made peace with Schleiz after the crash two years ago. It was nice to finish the race and now I’m looking forward to Assen. Then I’ll be in better shape again.

The Champion-alpha-Van Zon-BMW team will now have a two-week break. The fifth event of the 2024 season at the Dutch Grand Prix circuit in Assen will then take place in mid-August.

 

Results 

IDM Superbike Schleizer Dreieck

Results Superpole 2 – Starting Grid

1. Florian Alt (D), Honda 1.23,912 min

2. Jan-Ole Jähnig (D), BMW 1.23,969 min

3. Markus Reiterberger (D), BMW 1.24,255 min

4. Ilya Mikhalchik (UKR), BMW 1.23,444 min

8. Bálint Kovács (HU), BMW 1.24,787 min

9. Jan Mohr (A), BMW 1.24,906 min

10. Philipp Steinmayr (A), BMW 1.24,923 min

 

IDM Superbike Results Race 1

1. Ilya Mikhalchik (UKR), BMW

2. Markus Reiterberger (D), BMW + 1,066 sec

3. Florian Alt (D), Honda +5,765

9. Bálint Kovács (HU), BMW + 1,750

12. Philipp Steinmayr (A), BMW

 

IDM Superbike Results Race 2

1. Ilya Mikhalchik (UKR), BMW

2. Markus Reiterberger (D), BMW

3. Florian Alt (D), Honda

9. Bálint Kovács (HU), BMW

11. Philipp Steinmayr (A), BMW

12. Jan Mohr (A), BMW

 

IDM Superbike Overall standings after 8 out of 14 races

 

1.   163 Points Ilya Mikhalchik (UKR), BMW

2.   155 Points Florian Alt (D), Honda

3.     93 Points Toni Finsterbusch (D), BMW

7.     72 Points Bálint Kovács (HU), BMW

11.   38 Points Philipp Steinmayr (A), BMW

15.   20 Points Jan Mohr (A), BMW

17.   13 Points Max Schmidt (D), BMW

photos

More photos on our team website:

BMWRACINGTEAM.EU