KTM sweeps German finale; Muggeridge champ

From KTM Racing

KTM's official riders Stefan Nebel and Martin Bauer, on double pole for the final IDM (German Superbike Championship) races in Hockenheim, Germany, went out on Sunday with Nebel winning race one and with a Bauer-Nebel 1-2 result in race two.

KTM snapped the IDM Superbike Manufacturer's title in the final race.  
       
Bauer and Nebel's efforts on the final day meant they finished 3-4 in the final championship standings with Australian Karl Muggeridge (Honda) securing the title. Some 30,000 turned out on the Hockenheim Circuit to watch the final races.

Both KTMs were in front when the first race was halted after a crash involving a number of riders. The two ‘Orange Twins' again stormed into the lead when the race was restarted.

Bauer, who at that point still was in with a chance to take the title, hit the front with teammate Nebel in second place. But title hopes were shattered for the team in the final lap of the race when Bauer's bike suddenly stopped. A later analysis of the fuel injection electronics indicated that the fuel consumption during the race had dramatically increased.

A desperately disappointed Bauer had to hand over the race win to his teammate. Werner Daemen of Belgium was second and the 2009 IDM champion Joerg Teuchert finished third.

Both KTM riders set the pace right from the beginning of the second race amid a field of highly talented starters - in training the first 10 riders were within 0.3 secs. of each other. With constantly ultrafast lap times, Bauer finished a good three seconds in from of teammate Nebel, who was a good eight seconds in front of third placed Matej Smrz.

"I was stunned when the technology let me down just before the end of the first race and blew away my chances of taking the title," Bauer said. "Then I gave it everything I had in race two to try to shake off the disappointment. The win did me a lot of good and the team was able to take the Manufacturer's title back to Mattighofen. And besides that, our pace was super today and it was clear that we were the fastest in Hockenheim."

"For me it was naturally almost a perfect end of season performance: pole position and 45 points, which pushed me up to fourth place in the championship," Nebel said. "Nevertheless race one was a bitter disappointment. We were going for the title as a team and as Martin went out of the race right in front of me I thought 'This can't be happening.'"

Results Race One
1. Stefan Nebel (GER), KTM
2. Werner Daemen (BEL), BMW
3. Joerg Teuchert (GER), Yamaha

Results Race Two
1. Martin Bauer, (AT), KTM
2. Stefan Nebel (GER), KTM
3. Matej Smrz (CZE), Honda

Final Standings
1. Karl Muggeridge (AUS), Honda, 244 Points
2, Werner Daemen (BEL), BMW, 225 Points
3, Martin Bauer (AT), KTM, 221 Points
4, Stefan Nebel (GER), KTM, 202 Points
5, Barry Veneman (NL), BMW, 199 Points