Jan Mohr (BMW): Another superbike top result to mark his farewell

Jan Mohr’s appearance at the Hockenheim race was not only the final round of the season; for the Austrian, it also marked his last outing, as he will be turning his attention to other pursuits in future. In Superpole 1, he had stormed into second place with a blisteringly fast lap, only to be overtaken by two rivals in the final minutes. Fourth place also meant that the driver from the Masteroil-alpha-Van Zon-BMW team would not have another chance in Superpole 2. “It’s a shame,” he said, “racing in Superpole 2 again would have been a nice way to finish. I’m very happy with the time, but unfortunately it wasn’t quite enough once again. I did manage one fast lap, but I’m two or three tenths slower – I’m sure I can sort that out. That bodes well for a fast race on Sunday.”

Staying in the race is key

The Austrian was to prove right. Whilst the pace was too fast for some of his rivals – with one or two ending up in the gravel trap – Mohr stuck to his plan undeterred, remaining unfazed by the chaos around him, and was able to celebrate his best finish of the season with sixth place – a sort of personal farewell gift.

He almost managed another top-ten finish in the second race too, but his team-mate Markus Reiterberger had other ideas. Reiterberger had rattled through the gravel trap at the start of the race and had to work his way up through the field from the back. “Suddenly I saw ‘+0’ on my pit display again,” Mohr explains, “and I thought to myself, ‘Who on earth is that now?’” It was Reiterberger, who had fought his way back with lap times matching the leaders. “I managed to keep him behind me for two more laps,” says Mohr with a grin, “but on the final lap there was nothing I could do, and I ended up eleventh.” In the Sachskurve, he was able to enjoy one last proper celebration together with his colleagues in front of the packed grandstand.