Werner Daemen raced his GSX-R1000 to victory in Sunday's German IDM Superbike Championship round at Salzburgring, keeping Suzuki's Championship hopes alive.
The first heat went to Jorg Teuchert (Yamaha) ahead of Martin Bauer (Honda) and Daemen, but in the second heat, the Belgian rider turned the tables on his rivals and gained Suzuki its first win of the season.
At the Austrian circuit, the Suzuki International Europe importer's team of Andy Meklau and Dominic Lammert struggled with some technical problems although Meklau was fourth in the morning race, just missing the podium. In the afternoon he seemed all set for a place among the first three until the race was stopped because of a serious accident involving Kai-Borre Andersen (MV Agusta). The positions in the preceding lap, on which Meklau lay sixth, were taken as the final result.
Evren Bischoff - Team Manager:
"We're still fighting for the title, all the more now because although Martin Bauer is leading the IDM championship table, he wasn't able to collect full points this time. The position at the top is still wide open. We didn't choose the ideal tyres for Andy Meklau's bike in the first heat, but in the second our choice was perfect and if the race hadn't been stopped we might still have improved our position. The stoppage couldn't have come at a worse moment. The whole weekend we struggled with suspension problems we couldn't solve on Dominic Lammert's bike, and before the second heat we even had to replace its engine. As a rider I think that Lammert is sometimes even stronger than Meklau, but we need to make a radical step forward in setting up his bike."
Andreas Meklau:
"With the right tyres I could have been on the podium again, but we put up quite a good performance and the next races are on circuits that generally suit me better. On the uphill section in Salzburg, Werner Daemen was able to benefit enormously from his smaller build and lower weight."
Dominic Lammert:
"In the first heat I made a pit stop because the engine wasn't running properly. The current situation isn't satisfactory: we will have to take some fundamental decisions."
1st heat: 1. Jörg Teuchert (D, Yamaha), 2. Martin Bauer (A, Honda), 3. Werner Daemen (B, Suzuki), 4. Andy Meklau (A, Suzuki), 5. Kai-Borre Andersen (NOR, MV Agusta), 6. Gábor Rizmayer (H, Suzuki), 7. Olivier Depoorter (B, Suzuki), 8. Gwen Giabbani (F, Kawasaki), 9. Nina Prinz (D, Yamaha), 10. Roman Stamm (CH, Suzuki).
2nd heat: 1. Werner Daemen (B, Suzuki), 2. Jörg Teuchert (D, Yamaha), 3. Martin Bauer (A, Honda), 4. Kai-Borre Andersen (NOR, MV Agusta), 5. Günther Knobloch (A, Ducati), 6. Andy Meklau (A, Suzuki), 7. Nina Prinz (D, Yamaha), 8. Chris Zaiser (A, Ducati), 9. Gwen Giabbani (F, Kawasaki), 10. Roman Stamm (CH, Suzuki).
Points: 1. Bauer 206, 2. Teuchert 175, 3. Daemen 159, 4. Meklau 153, 5. Stamm 95, 6. Andersen 69, 7. Zaiser 65, 8. Depoorter 61, 9. Lammert 57, 10. Knobloch 50.
