KTM celebrate double IDM victory at Schleiz; Miller leads IDM 125
KTM Orange was the color of choice at the sixth race weekend of the IDM International German Superbike Championship in Schleiz this weekend with KTM riders stealing victory in both races. Czech rider Matej Smrz (Inghart KTM Superbike Team) won race one while Austria’s Martin Bauer (Motorex KTM), third in the opener, settled the second race to his credit.
Riders battled difficult conditions and a wet track in the first race but as conditions improved and the track dried out, it meant tire choice became an issue. The race went to KTM rider Smrz with a convincing 2.5 seconds margin. Bauer joined him on the podium in third place and clearly the Austrian rider was just laying the foundations for what was an impressive display of riding in race two. Indeed when the riders rejoined the track for the second race, Bauer got off to a perfect start and put on an incredible show of force to underline both his own riding skills and the power of the KTM RC8 R Superbike. He forged a leading margin of eight seconds before easing off and settling to be a mere five seconds in front of the pack at the checkered flag.
Smrz, the winner of race one, also finished strongly in race two despite some minor technical difficulties resulting in a slight drop in engine power and some shifting problems. Bauer picked up a big 24 points for the weekend, consolidating his lead in the championship with just two race weekends (four races) left on the program. Smrz is currently fifth in the overall standings. Stefan Nebel, the third KTM rider and Smrz’s teammate at Inghart KTM) was shad some health issues and minor electrical problems so he was content with his two sixth places. Two privateer KTM riders were also on the track for the sixth race weekend: Thomas Helldobler (Schittko KTM) and former 125 rider Daniel Kartheininger (Oppermann KTM Team).
KTM also regained the lead in the Manufacturers championship and currently has a slim, two points advance on BMW.
Martin Bauer: “I didn’t want to take any unnecessary risks in race one and third place was more than I expected. I did have some luck as Giuseppetti had crashed just in front of me. I ran over his front wheel and had to run over the grass in the fast downhill section. Race two was perfect. I got a good start and could ride away at a good pace to show the real potential of the bike. The RC8 R was flawless today!”
Matej Smrz: Everything turned out very well in race one. I got a good start and at first I took it easy. I was behind the leading two but I knew I could catch them because my Dunlop tires worked very well when the rack dried. I waited for as long as possible before I took the led and then went on and won the race. Race two was difficult because I had a bit less power and had to deal with shifting problems. So fifth place was not perfect but still good and the championship is still open.
Stefan Nebel: I have to be content with two sixth places because I came here with some sort of infection and I had to deal with it. Another rider destroyed my best qualifying lap so I had to start in the second row. I had some good battles in the first race and the result was okay but race two was more difficult.
IDM 125
KTM’s success on the circuit was also underlined in the 125 class with two riders of the Austrian-made machines on the podium. Germany’s Luca Grünwald stormed to his first victory of the season while young Florian Alt finished third and took the first IDM podium of his career. Both ride for Freudenberg KTM team. Grünwald started with a cautious first lap but then opened up the bike and charged away from the pack to secure his victory. Fellow German rider Florian Alt on the other hand fought hard in a group of six riders to finally finish third behind Championship leader Jack Miller. GP Rider Marcel Schrötter, who stepped in for injured KTM rider Toni Finsterbusch, who broke his collarbone in the practice sessions on day one finished good sixth while Philipp Öttl was seventh across the line. Austrian Deni Cudic crashed in the first lap, Swedish ace Alex Kristiansson also crashed after an incident with Jack Miller as they were engaged in a fight for a top three finish.
Wishes for a speedy recovery to Ducati rider Dario Giuseppetti
KTM riders and teams also take the opportunity to wish Ducati rider Dario Giuseppetti a speedy recovery after he broke is leg in a crash in the rain-soaked first race, which was red flagged and re-started after the rider had received medical care. Giuseppetti, a popular and very competitive rider had rode to pole position on Saturday.
— Muggas Report
Race 1: HRP rider Karl Muggeridge finished the first race in 4th position here at Rd. 6 of the IDM Superbike Championship at Schleiz in Germany.
With decreasing rainfall at the start, the first leg of the IDM Superbike race got declared as a wet race. Muggas got an excellent start and finished the first lap together with fellow country man Cudlin with a 3 second gap. However already in the second lap the race hat to be red flagged after a heavy crash of pole position rider Giuseppetti, who got transferred to hospital with a broken leg and ankle.
The second leg of the race got reduced to 16 laps. After the re-start there were difficult weather conditions with wet and dry parts on the track, with rain clouds looking coming towards the track, which at the end only threw a few drops down on the first lap. Muggas and his team decided to stay with the wet tyre which at the end was the wrong gamble. Karl got a good start again but then dropped back as it was very difficult to ride with the wet tyres on the half dry track.
Race 2: The second race of round 6 here at Schleiz got started in completely dry conditions. Bauer lead the field from the first lap followed by Muggeridge and Cudlin and was leading by the whole length of the start finish straight after a few laps. The fight for second position between Muggas and Cudlin was very exciting and remained open till right at the end where Cudlin’s BMW triumphed with its acceleration speed and crossed the line by 0.02 seconds in front of Muggeridge’s HRP Honda.
Muggas comments: “First race started out wet track,so we all had wet tyres. I had a good start, led the first two laps, the only two laps as it got red flagged. There seemed to be a lot of confusion as when the restart was going to take place. The pit lane open signal light was like a x-mas tree, one minute was green one minute was red like they couldn’t make up their mind. By the time the race got restarted the track was looking to start to dry pretty quick, but there was a pretty substantial black cloud in our direction. Rather than opting for the intermediate tyre we stuck with the wet and unfortunately the cloud passed us by, without leaving more than a handful of drops and a dry line appeared after a few laps and it was extremely difficult for me to maintain the pace of the front guys and dropped through the field to pass the line in 4th.
“Second race was clearly dry no gamble on the tyres. The bike was working well and we were in pretty good shape. I had a good start but Bauer just beat me to the first corner, I tried to stay with him for the first couple of laps but it was impossible for me to keep the pace that he was throwing down. On about lap 4 when Damian Cudlin passed me I had a big tank slapper and I was very close to come down and then he rowed by me. The rest of the race I sat In his back pocket and was planning to path him on the second last to last lap. It came down to the last lap I tried to pass him into turn three and then down out of turn five and that didn’t happened. And then it came down to the last chicane where I actually got passed him but then I needed the finish line to be about 5 meters closer to the corner as he just pulled out and rode passed me up the straight and beat me by a wheel to the line.”
Race 1
1 Matej Smrz (CZ) KTM RC8 R
2 Damian Cudlin (AUS) BMW S1000RR 00:02,624
3 Martin Bauer (A) KTM RC8 R Motorex KTM 00:12,957
4 Karl Muggeridge (AUS) Honda CBR 1000 RR 00:19,058
5 Ghisbert van Ginhoven (NL) BMW S1000RR 00:23,651
6 Stefan Nebel (D) KTM RC8 R INGHART KTM 00:24,354
7 Kevin Wahr (D) Honda CBR 1000 RR 00:26,306
8 Gareth Jones (AUS) BMW S1000RR 00:29,740
9 Sascha Hommel (D) Yamaha YZF-R1 00:29,743
10 Didier Grams (D) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 00:55,000
Race 2
1 Martin Bauer (A) KTM RC8 R
2 Damian Cudlin (AUS) BMW S1000RR 00:05,421
3 Karl Muggeridge (AUS) Honda CBR 1000 RR 00:05,441
4 Gareth Jones (AUS) BMW S1000RR 00:08,843
5 Matej Smrz (CZ) KTM RC8 R 00:09,504
6 Stefan Nebel (D) KTM RC8 R 00:10,017
7 Sascha Hommel (D) Yamaha YZF-R1 00:15,187
8 Jörg Teuchert (D) Yamaha YZF-R1 00:16,093
9 Filip Altendorfer (D) BMW S1000RR 00:22,814
10 Barry Veneman (NL) BMW S1000RR 00:24,844
2011 IDM Championship after Rd. 6 of 8
1 Bauer, Martin KTM Motorex AUT 162
2 Muggeridge, Karl HRP Honda AUS 147
3 Smrz, Matej Inghart KTM CZE 144
4 Cudlin, Damian Alpha Technik Van Zon Kraftwerk BMW AUS 140
5 Ranseder, Michael Fritze Tuning BMW AUT 129
6 Giuseppetti, Dario Technogym Hertramp Ducati GER 109
7 Teuchert, Jörg Yamaha Germany GER 91
8 van Ginhoven, Ghisbert BMW NED 80
9 Jones, Gareth Wilbers BMW AUS 69
10 Altendorfer, Filip Wilbers BMW GER 63
IDM 125, Results at Schleizer Dreieck, Germany
1, Luca Grünwald, Germany, KTM
2, Jack Miller, Australia, Aprilia
3, Florian Alt, Germany, KTM
4, Bryan Schouten, Netherlands, Honda
5, Luca Amato, Germany, Aprilia
IDM 125, Standings
1, Jack Miller, Australia, Aprilla, 125
2, Luca Amato, Germany, Aprilia, 115
3, Luca Grünwald, Germany, KTM, 71
4. Alexander Kristiansson, Sweden, KTM, 65
5, Bryan Schouten, Netherlands, 55