Hannes Soomer (BMW): “I couldn’t compensate for it with my arm”

Hannes Soomer still had his work cut out to get through the race comfortably, due to his ongoing shoulder and wrist problems, which stemmed from his training crash in the EWC at Suzuka in Japan. The Estonian rider from the Masteroil-alpha-Van Zon-BMW team had to take the detour via Superpole 1, which he completed with flying colours, setting the fastest time. He would have liked to have gone one better in Superpole 2, which took place immediately afterwards, but by then he had already run out of steam and ultimately had to settle for 8th on the grid.

“Superpole 1 was really superb,” he confirmed. “For Superpole 2, I did have a new rear tyre, but I was riding with the old front tyre. We’d run out of tyre stickers. Unfortunately, my shoulder is still too weak. But with the right training, I’ll definitely get it back to full strength by the end of the year.”

Die Stimmung des Esten war schon mal besser

Foto: Teerink

Meagre haul at the Superbike finale

For the Estonian, the first race ended as soon as he reached the first corner. “Then I felt a jolt on the rear right-hand side and went down,” he reported after the all-too-short race. “I couldn’t see the other rider and was on the outside.” His rival was on the inside line after the start and made contact with Soomer, causing him to go down as well.

Luck wasn’t on the Estonian’s side in the second race either, and he fought bravely to get through the 18 laps. “After the crash, my mechanics had their work cut out to get the bike sorted in time for the second race. However, there were no grip patches on the new fuel tank. That made a big difference for me, and I couldn’t compensate for it with my arm. I had to fight hard and find a different riding position on the motorbike. Naturally, that also had an impact on my lap times.”

With a crash through no fault of his own and a ninth-place finish, the season ended in a way that was far from to the ambitious Estonian’s liking. “I’m heading home now and will spend the next few weeks recovering from my injury so that I can finally put this behind me.”