Reigning Champion Jesco Günther raced his GSX-R600 Suzuki to a start-to-finish victory in the opening race of the weekend's IDM Championship second-round Supersport race at Oschersleben in northern Germany.
The 25 year old Team Suzuki Mayer rider from Wuppertal set Pole Position in qualifying and made the perfect tyre choice in his first wet race since moving to Suzuki this season. But he almost didn't start the race as, during the formation lap, he made an error changing gear and stalled the GSX-R600; having to frantically race back through the field to make the grid in time to win the race by more than seven seconds.
In the dry second race, Günther was confronted with completely new conditions and finished 11th, but was still the top Suzuki rider home, securing solid points to consolidate third place in the Championship points running.
Team mate Roman Stamm, who finished fifth in the opening race, was unlucky in race two, retiring after just 400 metres due to a technical issue. He now sits 12th in the series to date.
Team SUZUKI Laux ADAC Sachsen's Thomas Walther scored points in both races and is neck and neck in the rankings with Stamm. Sarah Heide - the only woman in the field - took her first points at Oschersleben. Having won at Sachsenring last year, she managed to rack up four points in the second race on her GSX-R600.
IDM newcomer Marc Neumann from Burtenbach, Germany, also rode well on the Saturday despite the soaking track conditions, managing to score his first-ever points in the series.
In the IDM Superbike class, the internal team battle at HPC-Power Racing Suzuki continued between Roland Resch and Sascha Hommel: Both have established themselves in the top 10 with their GSX-R1000s and in the second race, Resch was on race-pace with the leaders for the first time this season.
Jesco Günther:
"We are on the right track. The victory was a very emotional one for everyone on the team. The drama in the run-up, however, is something I could do without."
Roland Resch:
"The race track was new for me and first of all I have to learn to understand the motorcycle. Before the second race, we made changes to the chassis geometry and Dunlop helped us a lot when it came to selecting the tyres. I think that by the middle of the year we will be able to keep up the pace with the front-runners permanently. "I'm taking a step-by-step approach to creating an optimum motorcycle set-up. Being a former Superbike World Champion didn't mean that everything would work so well from the moment I entered the IDM - and that I would win. The technology and environment is completely different now, but after a long barren spell, I am happy to see that things are progressing steadily."
Full High-Resolution Image Gallery from German IDM Superbikes and Supersport: CLICK HERE TO VIEW
IDM Supersport
Race 1:
1 Jesco Günther (D), Suzuki, 28:23,549 min 2 David Linortner (A), Yamaha, 28:30,516 min 3 Tatu Lausletho (FIN), Yamaha, 28:30,848 min 4 Leon Bovee (NL), Yamaha, 28:38,920 min 5 Roman Stamm (CH), Suzuki, 28:55,634 min 7 Thomas Walther (D), Suzuki, 29:26,744 min 7 Marc Neumann (D), Suzuki, 29:59.987 20 Sarah Heide (D), Suzuki, 29:51,086 min
Race 2:
1 Tatu Lausletho (FIN), Yamaha, 29:01,694 min 2 Kevin Wahr (D), Yamaha, 29:17,185 min 3 Leon Bovee (NL), Yamaha, 29:19,018 min 4 Dominic Schmitter (CH) Yamaha, 29:27,758 min 5 Dominic Vincon (D), Yamaha, 29:30,081 min 9 Thomas Walther (D), Suzuki, 29:36,477 min 11 Jesco Günther (D), Suzuki, 29:53,561 min 12 Sarah Heide (D), Suzuki, 30:04,308 min 18 Marc Neumann (D), Suzuki, 30:54.002
Points table (after 4 of 16 races): 1. Lausletho 77, 2. Sutter 58, 3. Günther 56, 4. Wahr 46, 5. Cerny 46, 12. Stamm 21, 13. Walther 21, 20. Heide 4, 23. Neumann 3.
IDM Superbike
Race 1:
1 Matej Smrz (CZ), Yamaha, 30:52,970 min 2 Erwan Nigon (F), BMW, 30:54,550 min 3 Jörg Teuchert (D), BMW, 30:58,702 min 4 Gareth Jones (AUS), BMW, 30:58,735 min 5 Troy Herfoss (AUS), BMW, 31:06.509 min 9 Roland Resch (A), Suzuki, 31:28,696 min 13 Sascha Hommel (D), Suzuki, 31:36,953 min
Race 2:
1 Erwan Nigon (F), BMW, 30:55,059 min 2 Matej Smrz (CZ), Yamaha, 31:02,462 min 3 Karl Muggeridge (AUS), Honda, 31:02,467 min 4 Gareth Jones (AUS), BMW, 31:02,968 min 5 Jörg Teuchert (A), BMW31:02,968 min 7 Roland Resch (A), Suzuki, 31:03,996 min 9 Sascha Hommel (D), Suzuki, 31:29,692 min
Points table (after 4 of 16 races): 1. Teuchert 72, 2. Smrz 70 36, 3. Nigon 66 4. Ranseder 56, 5. Jones 55, 9. Resch 26, 10. Hommel 23.
