IDM Assen: Alternate at the end, Puffe injured, 19 left / IDM Superbike

In the first free practice session, local Rob Hartog was still in the lead. In the second, the usual suspects with Marcus Ritterberger, world championship guest Loris Paz and Florian Alt at the top. Despite having two guest drivers, there were only 19 drivers at the start. Jan Mohr, Toni Finsterbusch and Vladimir Leonov are recovering from the injuries they sustained at Schles and will not be replaced in their teams. Daniel Karthininger is missing for special reasons, Gabriel Nöderer has coronavirus and Julian Pugh has already infected himself.

a lot of wear

It’s day one of the IDM Tour at the TT circuit in Assen and Florian Alt already knows: No matter how good his times are in practice and freestyle qualifying, it will be Wilbers-BMW in two IDM Superbikes – start the race on Sunday from the last place on the grid. That’s what the regulations say.
The reason for this is that in Assen it actually uses the 4th engine instead of the 3 allowed engines. Three engines are already worn out or not in perfect condition. Recently in Schles, the 26-year-old left with the group that is still running, but at the same time the weakest drive of the current group. Championship leader Markus Ritterberger, who was also on board a BMW, pulled away from him on the straights.
It shouldn’t go on like this. That’s why the next engine will be used in Wilbers-BMW at Assen, and that’s why Florian Alt has to bite the bullet and start from the back. The drive is turned on during free training. Despite the unfavorable starting position, there is only one goal for Sunday’s races: the “podium”. (Source: idm.de)

Bad luck chases her

After just four laps on the TT Circuit, the GERT56 is completely without a rider Superbike. Toni Finsterbusch had already caught it in his last IDM race on the Schleizer Dreieck, where he fractured his pelvis after falling through no fault of his own at Seng, one of the fastest lanes on the street track. At Assen, Julian Pugh, who has been gaining more and more momentum in the past few races, has followed suit. Schleiser was missing in the fifth round. After a fall in which his BMW landed hard in the gravel, Puffe had to be taken to the medical center. While he was still lying on the bed made of pebbles, he pointed at his feet. His suspicions must be confirmed.

“He’s in hospital in Essen,” his team boss Carsten Wolff confirms. “He had a high side and the car hit his foot. A CT scan at the hospital confirmed a broken foot. He will have surgery today or tomorrow. The bike took a moderate difficulty. Our mechanics are already rebuilding it.”