Jan Deitenbach SuperMoto IDM Wittgenborn

Jan Deitenbach with perfect starts on the podium

At the third round of the SuperMoto IDM in Wittgenborn, Hesse, Jan Deitenbach made it onto the podium in both races. The Bergos Ravenol Team pilot thus climbed to second place in the championship. After qualifying, things had looked very different from a success.

On the smallest circuit of the IDM season, it was clear that a good qualifying session was already half the battle. The beautiful karting course offers few overtaking opportunities with its winding curves and short off-road. After a long rain shower, the asphalt was dry again on Saturday afternoon, but offered relatively little grip. Jan Deitenbach, who actually loves this kind of track, visibly couldn’t cope. Again and again he tried a fast lap, but had many small slips. In the end, it was seventh place, row two on the grid. Completely disappointed, the athlete sat in front of his camper afterwards. “That’s all I could do, I gave it everything. I had no feeling for the bike.” In the evening, the team spent a long time thinking and fiddling around and made some changes for the warm-up on Sunday morning. “We just have to give it a shot,” Deitenbach explained.

On Sunday morning in the warm-up training it worked better. “The times are still not so great, but now I feel comfortable and have confidence in the front wheel again.”
In beautiful summer weather, it was then time for the two race heats on Sunday afternoon. Deitenbach was allowed to start the race in sixth place because another driver was moved to the back due to a penalty.

When the lights went off, pole setter Marc-Reiner Schmidt immediately roared into the lead, behind him Deitenbach made a fantastic start from row two. After just a few meters, he had already passed three of his rivals, and in the first turn he also pushed through on the inside to take second place. What a start! While the reigning world champion Schmidt was able to extend his lead unchallenged, the tougher part now began for Jan Deitenbach behind him. No less than five riders stuck to the rear wheel of the Husqvarna rider, it was a fight for every centimeter. However, the veteran cleverly closed all corners and did not allow himself any mistakes. Twice one of the chasers was already off the mark, but Deitenbach was not to be cracked.
After 18 exciting laps, Jan Deitenbach climbed onto the podium in second place with a broad grin. “Unbelievable, I would never have expected that after yesterday’s training,” he declared after the run. “Now I’m going into the second race quite relaxed, because I’ve already achieved much more than expected.”

But race two was a copy of the first race at the beginning. Schmidt ahead, and Deitenbach this time already on the starting straight again managed to march through from the second row to his rear wheel! Again, five riders stuck to his back wheel. Shortly before the halfway point, Deitenbach made a small mistake and braked a little too far on the outside. Frenchman Tim Szalai was ready and immediately took the opportunity to overtake. Now Deitenbach had the next riders in the fight for third place breathing down his neck. But now he picked up the pace a bit and always carved out a small gap on the asphalt to safely defend his place against the chasers who were acting at full risk. Thus, Deitenbach was once again able to cheer on the podium despite being third and happily splashed the winner’s champagne. “We turned a very difficult weekend into an extremely successful one,” he says, beaming with joy after the race. “Yes, unfortunately I had the small mistake in run two, but no matter, after Saturday I’m absolutely happy, podium twice.”

In the championship, Deitenbach moved up to second place before the summer break in terms of racing.

Action Pisc by Mazzes Fotomatrix / Podium Pic by Kai Brake Fotografie – Reprint free of charge