IDM Oschersleben #2: Low blows and high flying

July 7, 2025

1IDM-Oschersleben---saturday-05-07-2025---photo-Damon-Teerink-1986

After a short break, the International German Motorcycle Championship (IDM) resumed last weekend. The venue was the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben for the second time this year. The fourth event of the year marked the halfway point of the 2025 season. Once again, the Masteroil-alpha-Van Zon-BMW team with Belgian team boss Werner Daemen was right in the thick of the battle for the IDM Superbike title. His quartet of riders was complete with Hannes Soomer (Estonia), Leandro Mercado (Argentina), Bálint Kovács (Hungary), and Milan Merckelbagh (Netherlands). There was also a reunion with their BMW colleagues from the Pro Superstock 1000, Ricardo Brink (Netherlands), Julius Ilmberger (Germany), and Ouri Bikkems (Belgium).

Hannes Soomer had extended his lead in the overall standings at the last IDM meeting in Most. However, the Estonian knew that his rivals, especially Florian Alt and Lukas Tulovic, were hot on his heels. After practice, the Estonian was in fifth place on the starting grid with his BMW. He kept a low profile at the start of the first race, but picked up speed after the first few laps and showed some spectacular overtaking maneuvers. By shortly after the halfway point, he had worked his way up to third place and was chasing Alt. There, too, he pulled off a skilful overtaking manoeuvre. But then, on the way into the next corner, his front wheel caught the grass and he flew off. His hand got stuck under the handlebars in the crash. Although he got back up quickly, a visit to the Oschersleben Medical Centre was still necessary.

From there, bad news came for the Masteroil-alpha-Van Zon-BMW team and Hannes Soomer. Team boss Werner Daemen had to announce the premature end of Soomer’s Oschersleben weekend: “Unfortunately, it doesn’t look good. He injured his hand and will need surgery on his fingers. A motorcycle can be repaired quickly, but a body takes a little longer. But I know that Hannes is a strong guy and I hope he’ll be back for the IDM race in Assen. From our point of view, this is obviously really bad for the championship.” After the double zero, Soomer dropped back to third place in the standings.

Leandro Mercado had to recover from a feverish infection after the trip to Most and arrived at the Motorsport Arena well rested. “I still have a score to settle with Oschersleben after my crash on my first visit,” said the Argentinean from the Masteroil-alpha-Van Zon-BMW team. “That’s the goal. We already had a good foundation at the start of the season, and we’re building on that now. Of course, it will be a little harder now that everyone has already raced there. We just have to focus on the details. In any case, I feel much better physically than I did in Most.”

After Superpole 2, Mercado finished in seventh place. He wasn’t really happy with that, so he immediately set about picking off his rivals one by one in both races. “It’s always good to be on the podium,” he explained after picking up the trophy for third place in the first race. “Although I had actually expected to have a better pace. We spent the whole weekend trying to get the rear tire to last the distance. So I started the first race conservatively to save the tire. But it was a little too much at the beginning when overtaking the other guys. When I got past the GERT56 guys, I tried to push. But I was at the limit and tried to manage the situation until the end. In the end, Lorenzo Zanetti got even closer. I saved my place and am happy to be on the podium. I feel very sorry for Hannes Soomer and hope he’ll be back soon.“

In the second race, Mercado moved up one step higher on the podium after a clever move against Florian Alt. ”It went really well, I’m happy,” he confirmed after finishing second. “I was looking for exactly this performance. Especially after the opening race here, where I crashed while in the lead. But today, I managed to make all the overtaking maneuvers exactly where I crashed last time. That’s good, of course. Lukas Tulovic is just very strong at the moment. Thanks to my team and, of course, to my family watching from home. But I want more. I want to win.”

Bálint Kovács arrived at the Masteroil-alpha-Van Zon-BMW team in Oschersleben full of anticipation. “This is one of my favorite tracks,” he revealed right away. No wonder, because last year he made it onto the podium twice at the IDM meeting. But this time, the Hungarian’s task was much more difficult. The IDM competition in Oschersleben was already busy at the start of the 2025 season. However, Kovács was not there. He had to take a break in May due to a broken collarbone. The Hungarian’s trip was a little bumpy until the first race, but he didn’t let that spoil his mood. “I missed the first practice session due to a technical problem,” he said. “FP2 went well.” For the first time, he had to take the detour via Superpole 1 in the battle for the best starting positions. Kovács was satisfied with ninth place on the grid for the two races on Sunday: “In the end, I was only six tenths of a second off second place. It’s close in the IDM Superbike.”

But the Hungarian wasn’t satisfied with that. In the chasing pack in the first race, he had to contend with his compatriot Soma Görbe and Germany’s Leon Orgis. But he dealt with his opponents and left them behind with some skilful overtaking maneuvers. With sixth place and a clear view of the podium places, Kovács got off to a good start on race Sunday. He was even closer in race 2, which ended with a fourth place for the Hungarian. “To be honest, it was an up-and-down weekend,” he said after the race. “I had to work my way up from the back in practice. Saturday went better and I realized I had the speed. I got off to a bad start in the first race, but I knew I had the pace to even fight for the podium. The start was better in race 2 and I was able to catch up with the guys in front of me. I was only three seconds off the podium. Things are looking up again after my injury, even though my shoulder isn’t 100 percent yet.”

Milan Merckelbagh is still chasing his first top-five result. After the Most outing, the Dutchman’s Masteroil-alpha-Van Zon-BMW team was back to full strength. “My mechanic and data guy is back in Oschersleben,” explained the Dutchman. “When I was in Most, he was testing in Japan. I want to be faster right from the start in Oschersleben. Especially in the Superpole session, where I’ve always struggled a bit so far.” He made it into the top 12 and thus into Superpole 2 at the first attempt. Things didn’t go quite according to plan for Merckelbagh in the final practice session, and he ended up in 15th place on the grid.

He was still happy on Friday. “I started out with some suspension problems, but once we got that sorted, I was able to set my personal best time. On Saturday, I missed the third practice session due to a technical problem and then had to do my fast lap in Superpole 2. Unfortunately, that didn’t work out so well.”

He finished 12th in the first race, but the Dutchman secured another top ten result in the second race with ninth place. A tough weekend with a good ending. “That’s how it looks,” said Merckelbagh, who is looking forward to his home race in Assen in August. “It was a weekend with a few difficulties. But the second race went pretty well. It’s just a shame that I missed out on an even better result in the end.”

As always, the IDM support program in the Pro Supersock 1000 class was exciting. Right in the thick of it were the three riders from the Masteroil-alpha-Van Zon-BMW team. After the two qualifying sessions, Ricardo Brink was delighted to secure his first pole position of the year. His joy was even greater after the two races. He managed to secure a double victory. “A perfect weekend,” he enthused. “We improved in every session, I was really fast. My start in the first race was great and I was able to set good lap times right from the start. I managed to maintain the gap until the finish. We had improved the bike for race 2, but I had a bad start. Moritz Jenkner at the front was mega fast, but I caught up with him. After that, I managed to pull away by a second. The team did a great job. I’m happy.“

Julius Ilmberger finished fourth and ninth in the races. ”Race 1 was good,“ he explained. ”I had a very good start and a good pace, so I’m happy with that. The start was also good in the second race, I was able to settle into P5 and set a good pace. Even faster than in qualifying. Unfortunately, I missed a gear at the end of the start/finish straight and had to go through the gravel. But I was able to save the bike and get back into 7th place. The mistake was very bad, but I made the best of it.”

Ouri Bikkems was initially delighted with ninth place on the grid, but paid the price after his crash in Race 1. “After the crash, I turned into the pit lane in the wrong direction,” he admitted. “I got a penalty for that and decided to sit out Race 2.” He was uninjured in the crash itself, but admitted that he was still very annoyed on Sunday.

For most of the Masteroil-alpha-Van Zon-BMW team, it’s time for a breather after the trip to the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben. The next IDM event is scheduled for August 15-17, 2025. For team boss Werner Daemen, it’s back to business as usual on the first weekend of August, when he travels to Japan with his BMW team for the Endurance World Championship.

IDM SUPERBIKE

Qualifying

1. Lukas Tulovic (D/Ducati) 1.23,654 min
2. Jan-Ole Jähnig (D/BMW) 1.24,264 min
3. Toni Finsterbusch (D/BMW) 1.24,373 min
5. Hannes Soomer (EST/BMW) 1.24,443 min
7. Leandro Mercado (RA/BMW) 1.24,603 min
9. Bálint Kovács (H/BMW) 1.24,902 min
15. Milan Merckelbagh (NL/BMW) 1.25,773 min

Race 1

1. Lukas Tulovic (D/Ducati)
2. Florian Alt (D/Honda)
3. Leandro Mercado (RA/BMW)
6. Bálint Kovács (H/BMW)
12. Milan Merckelbagh (NL/BMW)
DNF Hannes Soomer (EST/BMW)

Race 2

1. Lukas Tulovic (D/Ducati)
2. Leandro Mercado (RA/BMW)
3.Florian Alt (D/Honda)
4. Bálint Kovács (H/BMW)
9. Milan Merckelbagh (NL/BMW)
DNS Hannes Soomer (EST/BMW)

Overall standings IDM Superbike 2025 after 8 out of 14 races

1. 139 Punkte Florian Alt (D/Honda)
2. 136 Punkte Lukas Tulovic (D/Ducati)
3. 112 Punkte Hannes Soomer (EST/BMW)
5. 85 Punkte Leandro Mercado (RA/BMW)
9. 51 Punkte Bálint Kovács (HR/BMW)
10.45 Punkte Milan Merckelbagh (NL/BMW)