Cudlin and Neukirchner share IDM SBK wins at Nurburgring
Mixed conditions greeted IDM Superbike competitors at Nurburgring last weekend as the Championship reached it’s halfway point at the famous German venue.
Damian Cudlin (Weber-Diener Kawasaki) broke a six-year drought for Kawasaki in IDM Superbike with a 13-second victory in Saturday’s wet race ahead of series leader Xavi Forés (3C Racing Team) on a Ducati Panigale.
Third was Erwan Nigon (France, HPC Power Suzuki), Fourth Markus Reiter Berger (Germany, Vanzon Remeha BMW), Fifth Michael Ranseder (Austria, Honda Holzhauer).
The first five places going to riders from five different countries on five different brands.
In race two, Max Neukirchner triumphed on the Ducati of 3C Racing Team ahead of defending champions Markus Reiterberger (Vanzon Remeha BMW) and Forés.
Damian Cudlin: “A while ago I had a call from the Weber-Diener Kawasaki Racing team asking me to step in and ride their Kawasaki Superbike after the team had parted ways with their previous rider.
“I must admit, that on receipt of that call, while desperate to ride a motorcycle after almost five months on the couch, I wanted to be careful and ensure that the team was going to be open and honest in their dealings with me as it is so easy to get ‘led down the garden path’ these days, so to speak.
“I agreed to this first three-race stint, which we could do in the one trip to Europe, as a gauge to see how things would go with the team.
“I am certainly glad I did take that leap of faith as the team have done everything I have asked and have been completely open, transparent and honest in their dealings with me.
“This is no huge outfit like the big boys in the IDM ranks that turn up with three semi-trailers and 30 staff.
“Our outfit is a team of five guys that turn up in two vans, so to reward them with a race win at this level completely blew them away.
“Sure, in the dry, our package is still a fair way behind the leading competitors, but the team are working hard to improve the speed of the bike and that win has certainly given them that extra shot in the arm and motivation to go that extra mile.
“In the second race we were unlucky to get a faulty tyre that led to me having to pit for new rubber, but then with rain falling they called it a two-part race and thus despite at the re-start having to come from the back of the grid and work my way through to third place, once the results were combined that pushed us outside the top ten which was disappointing.
“The Weber-Diener Kawasaki team also run Alex Phillis in the Superstock sub-category, so with him around the pits, along with father Robbie, it is a like a little Australian-Swiss Team taking it up to the big dollar efforts in IDM which I must admit, feels rather nice. And with Robbie around there is always going to be plenty of laughs.
“Myself and the Weber-Diener Kawasaki team seem to work really well together so I have signed on for the remainder of the season.”
In the Superstock 1000 class 17-year-old Austrian Marco Nekvasil (Interwetten Racing by Fritze tuning). Alex Phillis took fifth and sixth place finishes in Superstock 1000.
The next round of the IDM Superbike series is held in Schleiz on July 20th.
SUPERBIKE*IDM – Nürburgring – 29. Juni 2014
Result Superbike race 1: 1. Damian Cudlin (Kawasaki), 2. Xavi Forés (Ducati), 3. Erwan Nigon (Suzuki), 4. Markus Reiterberger (BMW), 5. Michael Ranseder (Honda), 6. Danny de Boer (Honda), 7. Stefan Nebel (BMW), 8. Marco Nekvasil (BMW), 9. Lucy Glöckner (BMW), 10. Marc Neumann (BMW).
Result Superbike race 2: 1. Max Neukirchner (Ducati), 2. Markus Reiterberger (BMW), 3. Xavi Forés (Ducati), 4. Erwan Nigon (Suzuki), 5. Danny de Boer (Honda), 6. Stefan Nebel (BMW), 7. Lucy Glöckner (BMW), 8. Marc Moser (Ducati), 9. Dominik Vincon (BMW), 10. Marc Neumann (BMW).
Superbike Championship Standings (after 6 of 16 races): 1. Xavi Forés 177 Points, 2. Max Neukirchner 146, 3. Markus Reiterberger 137, 4. Stefan Nebel 73, 5. Bastien Makels 70, 6. Damian Cudlin 67, 7. Danny de Boer 64, 8. Erwan Nigon (Suzuki GSX-R1000) 59, 9. Matej Smrz 58, 10. Michael Ranseder 54.
Result Supersport race 1: 1. Roman Stamm (Kawasaki), 2. Marvin Fritz (Yamaha), 3. Stefan Kerschbaumer (Yamaha), 4. Vittorio Iannuzzo (Suzuki), 5. Christian Stange (Suzuki), 6. Tatu Lauslehto (Suzuki), 7. Jasha Huber (Kawasaki), 8. Kostiantyn Pisarev (Yamaha), 9. Christian von Gunten (Kawasaki), 10. Sarah Heide (Suzuki).
Result Supersport race 2: 1. Roman Stamm (Kawasaki), 2. Stefan Kerschbaumer (Yamaha), 3. Marvin Fritz (Yamaha), 4. Pepijn Bijsterbosch (Yamaha), 5. Kostiantyn Pisarev (Yamaha), 6. Christian von Gunten (Kawasaki), 7. Sarah Heide (Suzuki), 8. Christian Stange (Suzuki), 9. Jasha Huber (Kawasaki), 10. Michael Ghilardi (Yamaha).
Supersport Championship Standings (after 6 of 16 races): 1. Marvin Fritz 176 Points, 2. Roman Stamm 171, 3. Stefan Kerschbaumer 119, 4. Tatu Lauslehto (Suzuki GSX-R600) 97, 5. Vittorio Iannuzzo (Suzuki GSX-R600) 72, 6. Pepijn Bijsterbosch 61. 9. Christian Stange (Suzuki GSX-R600) 59, 10. Sarah Heide (Suzuki GSX-R600) 51.
