Vugrinec has to leave the pit lane at the IDM finale / IDM Superbike

After the Kawasaki driver received a penalty in race 2 at the Nürburgring – according to race management, Rob Hartog fell to the ground due to his mistake – he had to start from the back in Hockenheim.

If the newcomer from the team of former IDM driver Oliver Skach hadn't had a mishap with consequences in the second race, Martin Vugrinec's first trip to the Eifel could be described as solid. “We made a clear step forward in every respect this weekend,” explains the Croatian-born driver. “My feeling for the bike was immediately better and the gap to the front was much smaller.” I think the fact that many drivers had little experience on this track played into our hands, because we seem to be quite adaptable, both me as a driver and the team itself.”

The Kawasaki rider was not put off by the rather bad weather at times and achieved his best training result to date with 14th place. “I was very disappointed,” he said when he finished the first race in 13th place, “because I was in 11th place until the last lap, but due to grip problems I couldn't overtake my old friend Thomas Gradinger and drive at my speed. The team was happy with that, but we all wanted more in race 2. We clearly had the speed to get into the top 10, not just through luck, but through performance.”

“I also started strongly and overtook many riders on the first lap,” said his race report from race 2. “Unfortunately, I then made a mistake. I braked in the same place where I normally brake, but because I had a big slipstream beforehand, my speed was much higher. It was a small misjudgment with a big impact and unfortunately I hit a rider in front of me.”

The race management then took a closer look at the crash in which Vugrinec first hit Rob Hartog and then ended up out of the race himself. As a penalty, Vugrinec was forced to start from the pit lane in Hockenheim. “Apart from the crash in race 2, the weekend was very positive from my point of view,” Vugrinec sums up. “I'm still a rookie in this class and the team is brand new, so mistakes are inevitable.”

IDM Superbike points after 12 of 14 races

1. 258 points Ilya Mikhalchik (UKR), BMW
2. 177 points Florian Alt (D), Honda
3. 148 points Toni Finsterbusch (D), BMW
4. 137 points Patrick Hobelsberger (D), BMW
5. 136 points Hannes Soomer (EST), BMW
6. 128 points Lorenzo Zanetti (I), Ducati
7. 99 points Bálint Kovács (HU), BMW
8. 97 points Jan-Ole Jähnig (D), BMW
9. 86 points Leandro Mercado (ARG), Kawasaki
10. 55 points Maximilian Kofler (A), Yamaha
11. 52 points Philipp Steinmayr (A), BMW
12. 51 points Jan Mohr (A), BMW
13. 38 points Thomas Gradinger (A), Yamaha
14. 37 points Luca Grünwald (D), BMW
15. 37 points Milan Merckelbagh (NL), BMW
16. 22 points Leon Orgis (D), Yamaha
17. 21 points Kevin Orgis (D), BMW
18. 16 points Colin Velthuizen (NL), BMW
19. 15 points Max Enderlein (D), Yamaha
20. 13 points Max Schmidt (D), BMW
21. 11 points Vladimir Leonov (RUS), Ducati
22. 9 points Martin Vugrinec (CRO), Kawasaki
23. 8 points Rob Hartog (NL), Yamaha
24. 7 points Oliver König (CZE), Ducati
25. 6 points Nico Thöni (A), Kawasaki
26. 6 points Marco Fetz (D), BMW
27. 4 points Sandro Wagner (D), BMW
28. 2 points Marc Moser (D), Ducati