Jan-Ole Jähnig (BMW): “Those were my first kilometres in the lead”

During practice sessions for this year’s 2026 Euro Moto Superbike season – which will be known as the IDM again from next year – Jan-Ole Jähnig of Team GERT56 had shown on numerous occasions just what he is capable of. In the races this year, the BMW rider often held back a little in his battles with Tulovic, Schrötter and the rest. But at the season finale at the Hockenheimring, everything finally went smoothly for the Saxon.

But after Q1, I did find myself thinking, ‘Huh’.

Jan-Ole Jähnig

For the first time this season, Jähnig – who had competed in the Bol d’Or, the final round of the World Endurance Championship, in France the previous week – had secured a place on the front row for the Euro Moto. “A good starting position for the race,” was his assessment of the situation. “I didn’t think it would be that fast. But after Q1, I did think to myself, ‘Huh’. You definitely have to ride a 24-minute mid-range lap to be anywhere near the front.” Jähnig mastered this challenge with flying colours in Superpole 2.

After finishing fourth in the first race – with Markus Reiterberger, Marcel Schrötter and Florian Alt crossing the line ahead of him – Jähnig got off to a top-class start in the second race and quickly settled into the leading group. In the end, he had to concede defeat to his experienced team-mate Marcel Schrötter, who really put the young rider under pressure on the final lap.

“I knew Marcel would attack again,” explained Jähnig at the podium ceremony for his second place, “but to be honest, I hadn’t expected him to be there. I got off to a good start. We’d tried something new and made some changes. Markus Reiterberger then made a mistake, which is why I was a bit taken aback to find myself in first place. Those were my first few kilometres in the lead. Well, and there I kept seeing ‘plus 0.3’, ‘plus 0.4’ and then ‘plus 0.3’ again on my pit board. I knew something was coming and tried to cover for it. But I’m happy for Marcel – he was better. I’m happy for him.’