International Bike Promotion Championship – Heat battle at Hockenheim

Whilst events were cancelled everywhere last weekend due to the high temperatures, the IBPM drivers battled their way through the weekend and completed their race programme in admirable fashion on the Hockenheimring’s Grand Prix circuit. Despite the scorching heat – caused by the sun, the heated tarmac and the engines that were almost boiling over – it was once again motor racing at its very best.

Two Supersport races

The Supersport riders from both classes kicked off the racing programme. Unsurprisingly, Tim Holtz was on pole, flanked by his class rivals Nico Busch and local hero Billy Hilpert. He led the field for two laps until he went down following a mistake, but managed to pick up his bike and rejoin the race. In the end, it was still enough for 15th place and one point. Nico Busch had a clear run and settled into the lead. On lap 5, the race had to be stopped due to Patricia Kok’s crash, meaning Billy Hilpert no longer had a chance to make up the three-second deficit. Third place went to the lightning-fast starter Stefan Andersen from Denmark.

In Race 2 on Sunday, however, Tim Holtz was unstoppable; he secured a clean start-to-finish victory and was absolutely delighted afterwards. Busch took second place ahead of Brno double winner Martin Simonsen, who in turn left Hilpert and Andersen behind him.

Supersport Open standings

In the Supersport Next Generation class, which competed in the same race, it was guest rider Dirk Schnieders who set the pace. He crossed the finish line first in both races, in the first by the narrowest of margins ahead of Luca Hailfinger. In the points standings, it was Manfred Klincksiek who took the top spot on the podium with his Ducati, followed by Sebastian Dillner and Oliver Keck. Alan Kreimes, who had led the championship up to Hockenheim, did not compete and thus lost his place at the top of the table.

Supersport NG Standings

Superbike Open

The Euro Moto event, taking place simultaneously in Most, had left gaps in the Superbike Open field. Norick Tschauder and Danijel Peric were absent; the former due to a guest appearance in the Pro Superstock class, the latter because of his presenting duties. This presented a good opportunity for Andre Krüger to secure maximum points. The double winner from Brno got straight down to business, securing pole position for his BMW M 1000 RR, a full 1.5 seconds ahead of his rival August Wernig from Austria. Alexander Flammer completed the front row.

In the race, Krüger pulled away, skilfully managing the lead he had built up, and quickly set his fastest lap time of 1:45.348 minutes on lap 6. August Wernig rode an equally solitary race in second place, whilst behind him Alexander Flammer and Dennis Stankowski battled it out for several laps. Flammer ultimately came out on top and finished in third place.

Race 2 unfolded in much the same way, except that the duel between Stankowski and Alex Flammer did not materialise. Stanko had crashed and was out of the race right at the start. This meant Flammer only had to fend off the Belgian Anthony Francois, which he managed to do.

Standings in the Superbike Open

BMW Cup

Jennifer Lehmann arrived at the Nürburgring as the championship leader. She hadn’t raced at Hockenheim for six years, like most of the Cup riders, but quickly found her feet again and secured pole position with a respectable lead. Maik Ziegler and Thomas Schüller took second and third places. Right from the start, Jenny got off to a flying start and quickly built up a comfortable lead over Thomas Schüller. Maik Ziegler crashed out of the race on lap 3. Schüller held on to second place, with his team-mate Maik Hornberger behind him from lap 3 onwards. Erik Thomsen tried to attack Hornberger, but was himself overtaken by Sebastian Lorch on lap 6. At that point, Lorch was also third in the Advanced classification; in Race 1, Jenny Lehmann and Maik Hornberger were also still competing in this classification. According to the regulations, the result of this race meant that the Advanced riders were moved out of this classification – which is reserved for non-professionals – if they achieved three podium finishes in the overall standings, which was the case for both of them at that moment. However, they are permitted to retain their points in the Advanced classification.

Sunday’s race saw Jenny Lehmann dominate once again; this time, she crossed the line with a lead of five seconds over the runner-up, Maik Hornberger. Thomas Schüller had retired due to a technical fault, which opened up the chance for Erik Thomsen to take third place. The experienced Dane kept Maik Ziegler at bay and went on to claim the trophy. In the Advanced class, now without Jenny Lehmann and Hornberger, it was Sebastian Lorch who came out on top. Mario Damm and Michael Kaufhold, who were flying in a team formation, were unable to catch him and finished in second and third place respectively.

Standings in the BMW RR Cup (overall)

BMW RR Cup (Advanced classification)

From the race reports, it should be clear who won the Ladies Challenge this weekend. Behind Jenny Lehmann, Diana Weber finished second in the first race. In the second race, Patricia Kok was back on the grid and secured the points for second place, whilst Diana Weber came third.

Sportbike

New to the IBPM racing programme this year is the Sportbike class, in which riders from the former German Twin Trophy mainly compete. The class is currently operating on a slightly different calendar, but from next year it is set to be fully integrated into the IBPM events. Here, it was Mario Peuker, Marlon Braune and Frank Schumacher who took the podium in that order in both races.

Organiser Michael Dangrieß is delighted: “I’m extremely proud! Proud of our girls and lads, who didn’t give up in these conditions and put on a brilliant display of motorsport. But I’m also very proud of my team and the Hockenheimring track safety team. Everyone did a brilliant job in their respective roles and made this event one of our best in recent years. Let’s hope it continues like this, and it certainly will at the next event at the Schleizer Dreieck from 24–26 July 2026. We’ll be taking over the former IDM slot there and are looking forward to what we hope will be a large crowd.”