The 8-hour race at Oschersleben (GER) was the penultimate round of the 2018/19 season in the FIM Endurance World Championship (FIM EWC). The long-distance race was held as part of “German Speedweek”. The Fany Gastro BMW Motorrad by MERCURY RACING squad was the best-placed BMW team in fifth place overall. The #21 BMW S 1000 RR was ridden by Karel Hanika (CZE), Ondřej Ježek (CZE) and Ladislav Chmelik (CZE).
Oschersleben was the final race in the Superstock class, the FIM Endurance World Cup. The GERT56 by GS YUASA team, with Stefan Kerschbaumer (AUT), Lucy Glöckner (GER) and Pepijn Bijsterbosch (NED), was in the thick of the title race right down to the final round. At the end of a remarkably close championship, the team finished runner-up in the overall classification – level on points with the winners (45 points each). The team’s #56 RR finished 13th overall and seventh in the Superstock class in the 8-hour Oschersleben race.
International German Championship: Mikhalchik wins at Oschersleben.
The International German Championship (IDM) also featured on the bill at “German Speedweek” at Oschersleben (GER), where it held its second event of the season. It was another successful weekend for the BMW S 1000 RR riders in the IDM. In Friday’s qualifying session, Julian Puffe (GER / alpha Racing-Van-Zon-BMW) secured pole position ahead of his team-mate Ilya Mikhalchik (UKR) in second place. The two races were held on Saturday. Mikhalchik set the fastest lap of race one en route to his second win of the season on the new RR. Puffe joined him on the podium in third place. Dutchman Pepijn Bijsterbosch came home fifth. Race two yielded more podium results for the BMW racers. Mikhalchik finished runner-up, again setting the fastest lap of the race. Bijsterbosch was third, followed by Puffe in fourth place. Jan Mohr (AUT) also finished in the top ten in both races, with a ninth and an eighth place to his name. Marc Neumann (GER) was tenth in race two.
Canadian Superbike Championship: Win number two of the season for Ben Young.
Ben Young (CAN) continues his winning run in the Canadian Superbike Championship (CSBK). After taking victory at the opening round at Shannonville (CAN), the BMW racer also won race two of the season at Grand Bend (CAN). Young started from pole position and, after some thrilling battles for the lead, emerged victorious to take his second win of the season. “It was a fantastic race,” said Young. “I knew that Jordan Szoke was right on my heels the whole time and that the last corner would be crucial again. The BMW S 1000 RR was perfect, so it was just down to me to do my best to keep him behind me. We now want to continue where we left off today at the third race of the season.” Young has been the top rider in every session of the season so far. Michael Leon (CAN) came home fifth, Samuel Trepanier (CAN / Blysk Racing) was seventh and Jeff Williams (CAN) eighth.
