Some MX stars find themselves competing on track not only against rivals from other parts of the country and abroad but sometimes also against their own brothers. All three sons in the Ekerold family share a common passion. 23-year-old Roland and his brothers Bernard (20) and Stefan (18) compete in the ADAC MX Masters, the younger two in the ADAC MX Youngster Cup and Roland in Class 1. Their father had a successful career in road racing and actually won the 1980 world championship, so it is no wonder that his children also developed sporting ambition and became interested in motorbike racing. "We all started out in motocross between the ages of four and eight," says Bernhard Ekerold. "Our common interest has certainly strengthened the family bonds." "Team spirit is paramount for us three," adds Roland Ekerold. "We share the roles of team manager, rider and mechanic, and offer each other mutual support." The brothers don't see themselves as locked in any sort of competitive relationship. They always try to plan joint training sessions and to motivate each other.

Contrary to expectation, it is not the oldest of the three who serves as a role model to the younger brothers. Instead, Roland Ekerold looks up to the two younger ones with admiration: "I have enrolled for a course in Mechanical Engineering at Kaiserslautern and now live about an hour away from home. This means that I'm currently making nowhere near as much progress as Bernhard and Stefan, but I am very pleased that their development is coming on so well." However, Roland sometimes worries about the 'baby' of the family because Stefan is the most grimly determined and sometimes (in the truest sense of the word) overshoots the target: "Stefan gets injured the most because he's pretty wild. Whereas Bernhard and I tend to ride a more controlled race, our younger brother is far more of a risk taker and always wants to test any situation to its limits. In a moto not too long ago, he ended up in an excavator bucket because he took the jump too fast. That was not a pretty sight."

In the case of the Kjer Olsen brothers from Denmark, 17-year-old Thomas and 22-year-old Stefan, the role model function is a more traditional one. "I learn from my older brother's mistakes and try to emulate all his best features," says the ADAC MX Youngster Cup rider. Thomas and Stefan aren't really seeing a lot of each other at the moment, because the elder Kjer Olsen no longer lives at home in Sønderborg, having moved into shared accommodation with friends some two hours away by car. Family time is therefore limited to race weekends where both are competing. However, despite living relatively far apart, the brothers continue to see themselves as a unit. "We spur each other on and offer help as and when needed," says Stefan. "Our minds work in a similar way, and we are always concerned about each other's welfare. But we also know that the other is always taking it steady, which is quite reassuring when you're watching from the trackside."

Lars and Marcel Reuther are happy to swap advice and tips, but on the track, the ADAC MX Masters riders clearly see each other as rivals. "Sometimes, we exploit an error made by the other on the track, and that leads to an argument afterwards," says 24-year-old Marcel, while conceding that 21-year-old Lars is already significantly faster. "We understand the emotions that the other is going through, because we grew up together with the sport," adds Lars. "We've been competing since 2000 and know the strengths and weaknesses of the other." Apart from motocross, however, the Reuther brothers have no other leisure interests in common. Instead, they need a break from each other, as they both admit with a chuckle: "We share a room in our parents' house, so as you can imagine, we see quite enough of each other anyway. We have completely different sets of friends and go our own separate ways. That does us both good."

The situation is slightly different with half-brothers Nico Busch and Jan Allers. Nico (20) and Jan (15) also still live with their parents and spend most of their free time together. "When we're not training, we do a lot together," says Nico. "We care about each other and provide mutual support." The two compete in the ADAC MX Youngster Cup. Jan is temporarily out of action through injury, which gives him more time to help his half-brother on a race weekend: "At the race venue, I collect Nico's bike and give it a wash. Also, I try to cheer him up when the race hasn't gone well, and I provide mental support." Nico concurs: "The situation is bound to change, and then I'll be there for him. Currently, I'm doing better than Jan, but I'd be very happy for him if he were to catch up and overtake me at some stage. There has never been any bad blood between us, nor will there be in the future."

The two Schmidinger brothers, 26-year-old Günter and 28-year-old Andreas, have a similarly close relationship. They have been competing in motocross for several years now and are currently contesting the Masters class. "We know each other one hundred percent and benefit from having each other," says Andreas. "What matters to us more than anything is team success, so we have never placed obstacles in each other's way." Günter, the younger of the two, acts as the mechanic for both motorcycles and tunes the chassis: "Consequently, I not only know my own machine inside out but also Andreas's. He can always rely on me. That creates a strong bond between us. Also, we always do our training together, so that we can measure ourselves against each other. Sometimes one of us is better, and sometimes it's the other. But ultimately, the differences always seem to balance out."