Not much really happened in the second qualifying of the IDM Superbike on the TT Circuit. There were only improvements in midfield. World Cup guest Loris Baz slips into the front row thanks to an old penalty.
The thermostat had turned up to almost 30 degrees for the second qualifying of the IDM Superbike. Those who wanted a place on the front row of the grid had to do at least one very deep 1:38 lap. In order to pass the BMW drivers Markus Reiterberger and Florian Alt, who had secured positions 1 and 2 in the morning, a 1:37 lap was necessary in the followingnoon.
Markus Reiterberger was the last driver to start the final practice session, meaning that all 19 remaining drivers were on their way for the last 30 minutes of practice. Rob Hartog and Loris Baz picked up the pace with times of 1:39 min. Meanwhile, Reiterberger took it a little easier, especially in the third section. But the Bavarian was also halfway up to speed on his second lap and was the fastest with a time of 1:39.262 minutes. But we were still a long way from personal bests.
Bad luck for Leandro Mercado, who fired his Holzhauer-Honda into the gravel, but was able to get back on track. Ricardo Brink was canceled for one lap for loitering outside the boundaries of the track. Sandro Wagner and Björn Stuppi made the first improvements compared to Q1. Paul Fröde also had problems staying within the official route, for whom the relevant lap was canceled just like Brink shortly before. The same fate befell Kamil Krzemien. The Poles had already been hit in the morning.
At half-time nothing had changed in terms of the best times. Reiterberger had reduced his Q2 time to 1:39.048 min, Alt countered this with a 1:39.345 min. Rob Hartog was also 1.5 seconds slower than in the morning and once more he had set his best time immediately on his first timed lap. Meanwhile, World Championship driver Baz stopped by the edge of the track and the lap time was recorded by the watchful race control.
Baz then drove the best time in Q2 with a time of 1:38.749 min, which did not change his fourth place following Q1. Krzmien, who was once once more caught outside the course boundaries, and guest driver Jonathan Nessjoen also improved their times in the morning, but the second qualifying session didn’t really develop into a thriller, even in the final phase. Max Schmidt, who had to do without the input of his colleagues Vladimir Leonov and Daniel Kartheininger this weekend, managed to improve. On his eleventh lap, Schmidt even went one better and finished 8th with his time of 1:40.012 mim.
In the end, Schmidt, the Belgian Come Geenen and also Paul Fröde came into conflict with the barriers and the penalty followed immediately. Nothing changed in the times of the first seven, so that Markus Reiterberger once more secured a pole position. 2nd place in practice and last place on the starting grid for both races because of his punishment for the fourth engine of the year was for Alt. Hartog slipped up to 2nd place and the fourth fastest Baz got the corner in the first row of the grid.
Result IDM Superbike Q1/Q2
1. 1:37.459 minutes Markus Reiterberger (BMW)
2. 1:37.620 min. Florian Alt (BMW)
3. 1:38,148 min. Rob Hartog (Yamaha)
4. 1:38.522 min. Loris Baz (BMW)
5. 1:38.834 min. Pepijn Bijserbosch (BMW)
6. 1:39.265 min. Jeroen Hilster (BMW)
7. 1:39.529 min. Leandro Mercado (Honda)
8. 1:40,012 min. Max Schmidt (Yamaha)
9. 1:40.101 min. Leon Langstaedtler (BMW)
10. 1:40,164 min. Philipp Steinmayr (Yamaha)
11. 1:40.169 min. Come Geenen (BMW)
12. 1:40,183 min. Ricardo Brink (BW)
13. 1:40.455 min. Bastien Mackels (Kawasaki)
14.1: 40.628 min. Kamil Krzemien (BMW)
15. 1:41,075 min. Daniel Rubin (Yamaha)
16. 1:41.370 min. Sandro Wagner (BMW)
17. 1:41.506 min. Paul Fröde (Honda)
18. 1:42.906 min. Björn Stuppi (BMW)
19. 1:43.059 min. Jonathan Nessjoen (Yamaha)
