FIM Endurance World Championship race winner Illya Mykhalchyk extended his lead of the Internationalen Deutschen Motorradmeisterschaft Superbike category to 58 points with a win double at TT Circuit in Assen last weekend.
Having been outpaced by fellow EWC star Florian Alt in the Superpole showdown, BMW-powered Mykhalchyk was able to triumph twice at the Dutch venue as Alt crashed heavily in Race 1 and was a non-starter in Race 2.
Following his Race 2 victory, Mykhalchyk, who turned 28 last Saturday, said: “It was pretty tough. I made a mistake at the start and therefore lost some speed on the straight. After that, I had to stay calm. The guys around me were really fast. I watched everything, stayed calm and then went into the last third. It was a bit more interesting than the first race. But I'm happy, this was my 10th win in Assen.”
Mykhalchyk’s fellow EWC racers Bálint Kovács and Philipp Steinmayr partnered the Ukrainian in the Champion-alpha-Van Zon-BMW team.
Meanwhile, Hannes Soomer, who was part of the TONE RT Syncedge 4413 BMW line-up that claimed Superstock category glory in the EWC-counting 45th Coca-Cola Suzuka 8 Hours Endurance Race last month, finished second to Mykhalchyk in both races.
Of his early exit in Assen, Honda-powered Alt said:“After leading wet practice, the superpole pre-practice and the pole position in qualifying, the race didn’t go like we wanted. Unfortunately, a failure made me have a huge crash at 221kph. Luckily I work with the best partners in the world for my safety as I have just taken away two open wounds on my right hand.”*
The IDM season continues at the Nürburgring from 30 August-1 September, while Circuit Paul Ricard hosts the EWC title-deciding Bol d’Or from 12-15 September.
Photo: Champion-alpha-Van Zon-BMW
Original Source [ FIM EWC ]
