Jan Deitenbach starts IDM opener with podium
At the Schleizer Dreieck started with a record field the 2023 IDSM season. Defending champion Jan Deitenbach of the Bergos Ravenol Racing team made it onto the podium with third place.
With 36 participants, the field of riders in the German top class was filled to capacity for the first time since the introduction of the class division in force since 2015. This caused a lot of hustle and bustle on the track around the starting straight of the Schleizer Dreieck already during practice. But the team around the native of Iserlohn had worked well. In qualifying, Deitenbach brought his Husqvarna to second place behind World Champion Marc-Reiner Schmidt and ahead of former runner-up Markus Class. “After one or two laps were ruined for me by an opponent, then that one lap matched the end,” Deitenbach said. “With such a large field, that’s already an important starting position.”
As expected, Jan Deitenbach secured the holeshot of the first race ahead of Schmidt. But in the first left corner Deitenbach caught the idle, narrowly avoided a crash and two opponents passed. Deitenbach in third place, for which a close battle raged the entire race. But the experienced Deitenbach withstood the numerous attacks of his pursuers and made it onto the podium. “I’m absolutely happy with the place, but not with my riding. I was too cramped, so I concentrated on just defending my place.”
The holeshot in race two also went to Deitenbach. This time it took the opponents until round two to pass. The battle for third place was again close. Deitenbach kept getting into trouble but had opened up a gap of just under 1.5 seconds to the chasers by three laps before the end. Then, off-road, a lapped rider crashed right in front of him. Deitenbach could no longer avoid the crash and rolled over the fallen pilot, fortunately without any consequences for the crash pilot. In the process, a chaser on the outside lane moved past into third place. Thus, Deitenbach had to settle for a disappointed fourth place. “Third place was safe for me, and then came the incident, for which I had absolutely nothing to do. That was bad luck,” said Deitenbach. “But fortunately, nothing more happened.”
For the first time, the entire event could be followed in a livestream on YouTube and was very well received. Round two of the IDSM starts on the last weekend in May in Lignieres, Switzerland.
Pics by Mazzes Fotomatrix – Reprint free of charge
