The Hannspree Ten Kate Honda World Superbike championship team has announced that its rider Max Neukirchner will compete in this weekend’s (20-22 August) round of the IDM German Superbike championship at Assen in The Netherlands. The IDM series features a number of high profile riders such as current points leader, Karl Muggeridge, Werner Daemen, and Dutch rider Barry Veneman, and the Assen event marks the penultimate round of the 2010 championship. Neukirchner will participate on a Honda CBR1000RR in a team run by Ten Kate Racing Products the customer race division of the Ten Kate operation. The team will receive support from tyre manufacturer Dunlop, and Neukirchner will use the two races to test a number of new TKRP parts including brakes and electronics. The Ten Kate Racing Products team will also field 17-year-old Florian Marino, in the IDM Supersport race this weekend. The French youngster currently rides for the Ten Kate Racing Junior team in the Superstock 600 European championship in which he currently lies in second place with his Honda CBR600RR. Max Neukirchner “I’m really happy to have an opportunity to ride again at Assen it’s a fantastic circuit and I enjoy riding there. It should be a good weekend because I know quite a few of the IDM guys very well. I know Assen well, too, and we’ve done a lot of laps there this season testing and racing. However, I know for sure it won’t be an easy weekend because the level in IDM is very high. There are factory teams and very good privateer teams, all with almost a season of racing this year. We will start on Friday with a completely new bike and a new team but the Ten Kate guys are very experienced and I’m sure we’ll be able to find a good way forward very quickly. It will be a fun weekend.” Rutger Belt – Ten Kate Racing Technical Co-ordinator “Ten Kate Racing Products is an important part of the overall racing programme and our racing customers benefit directly from the developments we are able to make in World Superbike and World Supersport. The IDM series visiting Assen is a perfect opportunity for us to fine tune some new customer parts such as brakes and electronics. For Max, it’s a great chance to get some more laps under his belt ahead of a full World Superbike test that the team has at Assen next week, before it heads off to Italy for round 11 of the championship at Imola.”