Muggeridge wins IDM Title on Fireblade; KTM win manufacturers Title
KTM’s official riders Stefan Nebel and Martin Bauer, on double pole for the final IDM (German Superbike Championship) races in Hockenheim, Germany, went out on race day with Nebel winning race one and with a Bauer-Nebel 1-2 result in race two. KTM snapped the IDM Superbike Manufacturer’s title in the final race.
Bauer and Nebel’s efforts on the final day meant they finished 3-4 in the final championship standings with Australian Karl Muggeridge (Honda) securing the title. Some 30,000 turned out on the Hockenheim Circuit to watch the final races.
Superbike Race 1
Both KTMs were in front when the first race was halted after a crash involving a number of riders. The two ‘Orange Twins’ again stormed into the lead when the race was restarted. Martin Bauer, who at that point still was in with a chance to take the title, hit the front with teammate Stefan Nebel in second place. But title hopes were shattered for the team in the final lap of the race when Bauer’s bike suddenly stopped. A later analysis of the fuel injection electronics indicated that the fuel consumption during the race had dramatically increased. A desperately disappointed Bauer had to hand over the race win to his teammate. Werner Daemen of Belgium was second and the 2009 IDM champion Joerg Teuchert finished third.
Superbike Race 2
This time, perfection. Both KTM riders set the pace right from the beginning of the race amid a field of highly talented starters – in training the first ten riders were within 0.3 seconds of each other. The result: a fantastic double KTM victory in the final race of the season. With constantly ultrafast lap times, Martin Bauer finished a good three seconds in from of teammate Nebel, who was a good eight seconds in front of third placed Matej Smrz. The Finnish KTM RC8R privateer Vesa Kallio, who was known for his consistency during the season had bad luck in the final rounds and failed to finish both races.
Martin Bauer (DNF/1.): “I was stunned when the technology let me down just before the end of the first race and blew away my chances of taking the title. Then I gave it everything I had in race two to try to shake off the disappointment. The win did me a lot of good and the team was able to take the Manufacturer’s title back to Mattighofen. And besides that, our pace was super today and it was clear that we were the fastest in Hockenheim”.
Stefan Nebel (1./2.):
“For me it was naturally almost a perfect end of season performance: pole position and 45 points, which pushed me up to fourth place in the championship. That plus a well deserved Manufacturer’s title. Nevertheless race one was a bitter disappointment. We were going for the title as a team and as Martin went out of the race right in front of me I thought “This can’t be happening..”
Konrad Hefele, Team Manager
“We fought for the title in 15 of 16 races. In the end Martin and Stefan finished in third and fourth place. As a team we showed that KTM and the RC8R are definitely able to win races and we won and deserved our close win in the Manufacturer’s title. This was only possible because we all gave it everything we had. I want to thank our partners Red Bull, Motorex, Akrapovic and Dunlop, whose perfect support was an essential component of our team.”
Results:
Superbike Race One
1. Stefan Nebel (GER), KTM
2. Werner Daemen (BEL), BMW; Barry Veneman (NL), BMW
3. Joerg Teuchert (GER), Yamaha
Superbike Race Two
1. Martin Bauer, (AT), KTM
2. Stefan Nebel (GER), KTM
3. Matej Smrz (CZE), Honda
Final IDM Superbike Championship Standings after 16 races
1, Karl Muggeridge (AUS), Honda, 244 Points
2, Werner Daemen (BEL), BMW, 225 Points
3, Martin Bauer (AT), KTM, 221 Points
4, Stefan Nebel (GER), KTM, 202 Points
5, Barry Veneman (NL), BMW, 199 Points
15.Vesa Kallio, (FIN), KTM, 48 Points
Final Manufacturer’s standings
1. KTM ……….442 Points
2. BMW 441 Points
3. Honda 398 Points
4. Yamaha 284 Points
5. Suzuki 221 Points
