Damian Cudlin made his highly anticipated IDM Superbike debut at Lausitzring last weekend, racing for his new Alpha Technik/Van Zon/Kraftwerk/BMW Team for the first time.
The reigning IDM Supersport Champion made his presence felt immediately in the SBK class, battling with the established stars right from the outset. Despite missing all winter testing and only having the chance to ride the bike just once before the opening round, Cudlin secured 5th place on the grid in qualifying and proved to be a threat in both 18 lap races on Sunday.
Blasting from the line in the opening race, Cudlin swept around the outside of the field into turn 1 and slotted into 2nd position behind KTM’s Martin Bauer on the opening lap. A 3 way tussle soon ensued between Bauer, Cudlin and Ducati’s Dario Gussipeti as the trio fought over position. Soon reigning SBK Champion Karl Muggeridge joined the leading group and an entertaining scrap kept the local crowd on their feet. As the race progressed, Stefan Nebel and Matej Smrz joined the party as Bauer and Gussipeti pulled a small gap at the front of the field. With 5 laps of the race remaining, Cudlin began to fight for rear grip from the back of his BMW as Muggeridge made some vital ground. On the last lap Smrz and Nebel made contact allowing Cudlin through on Smrz and on to a 5th place finish, narrowly following Muggeridge and Nebel over the line.
“I’m satisfied with the result to be honest” explained Cudlin. “We ran with the leaders for a large part of the race but just lost out in the closing stages. I’ll look at the data with the team and talk with the Pirelli guys, and hopefully, we can come out swinging in race two.”
Cudlin and his technical crew opted for an alternate tyre choice for the hotter second SBK race, and as the race got underway, it looked as though the gamble might have paid off.
