Reiterberger doubles Nurburgring IDM SBK
Markus Reiterberger makes it seven wins from eight races in 2015 IDM Superbike Championship
Markus Reiterberger took yet another double when the IDM Superbike Championship visited the Nurburgring last weekend, making it an almost perfect record of the IDM SBK season thus far with seven wins from eight races to the BMW man.
Mak Neukirchner has been the only man to spoil Reiterberger’s perfect record, the 32-year-old stealing a win at Lausitzring on Yamaha’s new YZF-R1. A massive highside in the opening race at the Nurburgring however put paid to Neukirchner’s chances of adding to his tally. Neukirchner was immediately taken to the hospital in Adenau to receive surgery on a broken right femoral neck on Sunday. The surgery was successful and he has recovering well, however he is in doubt for the sixth round at Schleizer Dreieck.
Neukirchner fell from second place early in the race leaving Reiterberger to streak away to a five-second win over Ducati’s Xavi Forés and Lorenzo Lanzi. Damian Cudlin had lost valuable time at the start of the race avoiding a turn one incident, dropping right back to the middle of the pack in the 39-rider field before working his way forward to a highly creditable fourth place finish.
In the second race the Ducati riders were much more determined, both men sprinting off the line as Reiterberger gave chase. The BMW rider got Lanzi on lap two and eventually also got the better of Forés to claim another win but this time the gap a much narrower 1.7-seconds. Cudlin tried passing Mackels for fourth place in the last lap, but was unable to do so when he was held up by some backmarkers. He crossed the line in fifth, 14.795s from the front.
Damian Cudlin – Race 1 – 4th, Race 2 – 5th – “We finished the first race in fourth position. It was a little bit disappointing because I had hoped for more. I was very lucky to avoid a big crash in the first corner, but I lost a lot of positions because of it. I think I was eleventh in the first couple of corners, so I had to attack to arrive in fourth place, but our main competitors were a long way in front by this stage. That was basically the first race done. My start to the second race was not great but I was in the battle early and I was able to tag onto the back of Lanzi and Mackels. For a long time, maybe until the last five laps, a podium was a real possibility. I could almost grab it, but I found it really difficult to pass Mackels in the last laps and by then Lanzi was gone. I planned to make my move in the last lap in the last chicane and when I arrived everything was in a perfect position, but unfortunately three lapped riders completely blocked the path, so it wasn’t possible. It was a bit disappointing to not at least finish fourth, but two good point scoring races are good for the championship. I feel like we’ve made a step here this weekend, so if we can keep going in this direction at the next event, hopefully I can be in the top three. That’s my target.”
Michael Galinski – Team Yamaha MGM Team Manager – “Max had good speed and was able to stay in front of his main rivals. His crash was really a pity and his injury even more so – with a femoral neck fracture he’ll be out for the next six weeks. We are waiting for him to recover and hope that we can count on him again in Schleiz at the latest. We will do everything we can to help him come back as soon as possible. Damian did two very good and solid races. In the second encounter he had a better feeling and is still working on his riding style to be able to move forward. I hope we are able to ride with him to the podium. Max will definitely miss the next round. While fighting with Fores, Max came out of the hairpin in an unusual way. In the following left corner he was riding more on the inside, so he took another line and accelerated more than usual. After this he came sharper into the next right corner and needed to brake very hard where he normally doesn’t brake so much, thereby losing the rear. In the data it seems he was nudged a little bit and this was the cause of the highsider.”
IDM Superbike 2015 -Nurburgring – Race 1 – 18 laps
1. Markus Reiterberger, BMW S 1000 RR, 25:40.365
2. Xavi Forés, Ducati 1199 Panigale R, +5.073
3. Lorenzo Lanzi, Ducati 1199 Panigale R, +6.261
4. Damian Cudlin, Yamaha YZF-R1M, +22.965
5. Marvin Fritz, Yamaha YZF-R1M, +26.592
6. Roman Stamm, Kawasaki ZX-10R, +34.926
7. Pepijn Bijsterbosch, BMW S 1000 RR, +38.184
8. Jan Halbich, Honda CBR 1000 RR SP, +38.992
9. Stefan Kerschbaumer, Yamaha YZF-R1M, +43.245
10. Luca Grünwald, Kawasaki ZX-10R, +44.767
IDM Superbike 2015 -Nurburgring – Race 2 – 18 laps
1. Markus Reiterberger, BMW S 1000 RR, 25:43.461
2. Xavi Forés, Ducati 1199 Panigale R, +1.777
3. Lorenzo Lanzi, Ducati 1199 Panigale R, +9.667
4. Bastien Mackels, BMW S 1000 RR, +14.643
5. Damian Cudlin, Yamaha YZF-R1M, +14.795
6. Mathieu Gines, Yamaha YZF-R1M, +25.259
7. Matej Smrz, BMW S 1000 RR, +32.237
8. Dominik Vincon, BMW S 1000 RR, +32.489
9. Roman Stamm, Kawasaki ZX-10R, +32.602
10. Stefan Kerschbaumer, Yamaha YZF-R1M, +33.763
Championship Standings – IDM Superbike 2015
1. Markus Reiterberger, Van Zon-Remeha-BMW, 195
2. Xavi Forés, 3C-Racing Team, 140
3. Lorenzo Lanzi, 3C-Racing Team, 115
4. Max Neukirchner, Team Yamaha MGM, 101
5. Matej Smrz, Wilbers-BMW-Racing Team, 75
6. Damian Cudlin, Team Yamaha MGM, 72
7. Jan Halbich, Holzhauer Racing Promotion, 63
8. Erwan Nigon, HPC-Power Suzuki Racing, 50
9. Gareth Jones, Weber-Diener Racing Team, 37
10. Luca Grünwald, Weber-Diener Racing Team, 19
Superstock 1000: First victory for Marvin Fritz, fifth victory for Mathieu Gines
Super Sport 600: Victories for rod and Lauslehto
Super Naked: Double victory for Galinski
Moto3 victory for Geitner and Soppe
Sidecar victory for spreader / Koertz – 25 points for Kretzer / Lehnertz
