There were no illusions that defending the SUPERBIKE*IDM title would be easy. Especially the competitors, in the form of BMW and Yamaha, have made progress. After half of the season, the 3C pilots, Xavi Forés and Lorenzo Lanzi, ranked second and third in the overall ranking.
On Nürburgring, following numerous experiments with the material, the team took the decision during the previous weekend that the two drivers should race with different motorbikes. Forés used a hybrid version with the chassis of 2014, the electronics of 2015 and a Superbike-WM fuel tank. Lanzi started with all material from 2014. “The potential of the 2015 material would also have been very attractive, however, there has been no opportunity for thorough testing to date,” says the team boss Karsten Jerschke.
In the two races on the 3618 metre long Grand Prix stretch in the Eifel, Forés and Lorenzo came in at second and third place. However, the two 3C-Racing Team drivers had never before come closer to the championship leader, Markus Reiterberger. Forés was leading the second race of the day for five rounds, before Reiterberger launched a successful attack in the curve at the end of the home stretch.
After 18 rounds, merely 1.7 seconds separated the Spaniard from the winner. At the end, Forés still tried to regain the top position, yet he was hindered at this by drivers he had lapped.
At the Hungaroring in Hungary, the SUPERBIKE*IDM starts the second half of the season from the 3rd to the 5th of July 2015. Until then, the 3C-Racing Team will come to a final conclusion regarding the material to be used and compare all approaches with the 2015 components. “We will do everything possible to turn the tables. Winning the championship title remains our goal. The final result will only be clear in September, with the final in Hockenheim.”
