Muggas takes pair of fourth places; retains IDM SBK Title lead
Guest rider Max Neukirchner won the first race here at round 7 of the IDM Superbike Championship at Assen in front of BMW rider Barry Veneman, KTM’s Martin Bauer and HRP’s Karl Muggeridge. As Neukirchner doesn’t get any points as a guest rider Muggas received the 16 points for third and was able to increase his championship lead by a little bit more.
Muggas got a good start of his 5th grid position and moved up to third straight away, but soon realized that he couldn’t keep up with the pace of the front runners as he was having once more a grip issue. It just seems to be difficult to get the right tyre for the Honda as the harder ones don’t work on it and the softer ones don’t last. So it’s a bit of a gamble with no win.
Muggas comments: „First race I got a good start I was third into the first corner and seemed to have a good pace . But after a few laps I’ve started having handling problems with the bike, and big loss in grip. We’ve struggled through the race, and when it started to rain a little bit I slowed down a lot as I didn’t wanna risk to much for the championship, a lot of riders passed me then and when it dried out I tried hard to make up a lot of the lost spots. We were pretty lucky with all the problems we had, that we still got fourth.”
The second race of this weekend’s IDM Superbike round was a bit confusing at first. The race got cancelled once just before the start because of a heavy rain shower and then the second time a couple of laps after the start. After big discussions and one hour later it was decided to run the race short (10 laps instead of 17) and to restart it with no one else than the riders on the grid.
Muggas was pretty fortunate with the cancellation of the first race, as he accidently jump started and got penalized with 20 seconds. After the second start Muggeridge was able to increase his championship lead again as he left Bauer and Daemen behind him and took another 4th place behind third placed guest rider Neukirchner, second placed Smrz and the Dutch winner Barry Veneman.
Muggas comments: “For the second race, just as about the pit lane opened it started to rain heavily, but it only rained in the start finish straight and the last chicane, the rest of the track was dry. Then we had a delayed start and big discussions, when it was gonna start again. Finally it got on the way. Two laps into the race it started to rain again. Everyone hold their hand up and back into the pits we went. They cancelled the race, and a brand new race with only ten laps and no one on the start grid was on the plan. With the ten laps, we went for a different tyre which was a lot better for my bike, but I also suffered a lot of grip loss at the end of the race but at least it was ok at the beginning. I managed to hang on to the guys as good as I could, and I rode hard, gave everything and risked a lot. Then in the last lap I managed to pass Bauer into the last corner. Anyway we were really happy what we were able to do with what we had this weekend.”
— KTM Report
KTM rider Martin Bauer of Austria powered his RC8R Superbike to a podium place on Sunday on the Dutch circuit of Assen to move into second place in the IDM (German International Superbike) championship standings in the second-last race weekend of the competition.
The two- times IDM Superbike champion from Austria managed to keep the title fight open until the final race weekend. Stefan Nebel, second rider in the KTM Superbike Team Germany had a luckless race weekend and slips back to fifth in the rankings.
Superbike Race One:
With the field swelled by numerous guest riders, 36 starters took to the track to attack the first race on the traditional Dutch circuit. Bauer, who was ranked third going into the race, started in the first row but slipped back a couple of places before he settled down to successfully hunt down IDM leader Karl Muggeridge and Werner Daemen. Following the exit of Dario Giuseppetti, Bauer powered his KTM Superbike into third place at the chequered flag and picked up valuable championship points. He moved into second place due to the fact that the winner, Max Neukirchner was a guest rider and therefore was not allocated any championship points. The race did not go so well for teammate Stefan Nebel when he had to give up on a good result due to an electrical fault just a couple of laps before the end of the race. As five guest riders finished in front of him, he still managed to pick up two points even though he was classified back at 19th place. The Finnish KTM privateer Vesa Kallio was again able to register an impressive result. Extremely constant and aggressive, Kallio rode his RC8R from 16th on the starting grid into an eventual eleventh place.
Superbike Race Two:
Chaotic is perhaps the best way to describe the second race: race distance shortened as a result of bad weather and then the race called to a halt so the IDM riders delivered a short but thrilling battle over 10 laps where positions changed frequently to the 11,000 spectators. It turned out that it was enough for fifth place for Bauer, just two seconds behind eventual winner Barry Veneman. The distance proved to be too short for Stefan Nebel, who still managed to cross the line in eighth place. Vesa Kallio finished just behind the reigning champion Teuchert in a good 12th place.
Martin Bauer (3./5.): The podium in the first race was a mixture of good and bad luck. I benefited when Dario dropped out right in front of me but I had to sit behind a badly smoking bike and that cost me the chance to close in on Barry. Both starts were good and I had a faster pace before the race was stopped than after the re-start. I think I would have been a chance to win. But there’s no “if only” in racing. We’re going to give it everything in Hockenheim and really go for the victory.
Stefan Nebel (19./8.): I expected to be right up the front from my start place in the third row. I got into a good rhythm after a few laps and there was a group of six in front of me. But then suddenly I had a problem with the bike. After I got started again my race was virtually over, even though just before the finish I managed to overtake three riders. The second race was simply too short for me. I had an extreme slip with the front wheel in the first lap and when I put that behind me I managed to overtake two other riders.
Toni Finsterbusch wins again and is IDM 125 vice champion
A great day for the Freudenberg Team. KTM youngster Toni Finsterbusch was brilliant in Assen with best time in training and another race win that allowed him to secure the vice champion title before the end of the season. Eric Huebsch, who rode for the injured Daniel Katheininger in Team Freudenberg finished in 13th place.
Once again it was a very strong performance by the youngest KTM racers in the IDM. Philipp Oettl was fifth and is currently in a sensational fourth overall in his first season on his 125 two-stroke bike directly behind his teammate Damien Raemy who finished in eleventh place in Assen.
Race One
1. Max Neukirchner (GER), Honda – Guest rider
2. Barry Veneman (NL), BMW
3. Martin Bauer, (AT), KTM
4. Karl Muggeridge (AUS), Honda; Werner Daemen (BEL), BMW
5. Werner Daemen (BEL), BMW
Race Two
1. Barry Veneman (NL), BMW Max
2. Matej Smrz (CZE), Honda
3. Max Neukirchner (GER), Honda – Guest rider
4. Karl Muggeridge (AUS), Honda
5. Martin Bauer, (AT), KTM
Championship standings after 14 of 16 races
1, Karl Muggeridge (AUS), Honda, 227 Points
2. Martin Bauer (AT), KTM, 196 Points
3. Werner Daemen (BEL), BMW, 196 Points
4. Barry Veneman (NL), BMW, 175 Points
5. Stefan Nebel (GER), KTM, 157 Points
Manufacturers’ Championship Standings
1. BMW 387 Points
2. KTM 372 Points
3. Honda 355 Points
4. Yamaha 248 Points
5. Suzuki 201 Points
Championship standings IDM 125
1. Luca Gruenwald, (GER), Seel, 233 Points
2. Toni Finsterbusch (GER), KTM, 185 Points
3. Damien Raemy, (SUI), KTM, 125 Points
4. Philipp Oettl, (GER), KTM, 117 Points
6. Daniel Kartheininger (GER), KTM, 89 Points