There are plenty of motocross riders who first sat on an MX machine at a very tender age and devote themselves entirely to the sport. Since many also move almost exclusively in this environment, MX sportspersons have lots of friends in the MX scene. They spend their free time together, meet up for joint training sessions and discuss their shortcomings and strengths. However, it can be a disadvantage if your training partner knows all about your riding style and idiosyncrasies, because different rules apply out on track. Friends can suddenly become foes.

Take ADAC MX Youngster Cup rider Stephan Büttner, for example. He has been in constant competition with his friend Henry Jacobi since he was little. The two first rode together in the 50cc class as small boys and have always been about as fast and as good as one another ever since then. "Competing against him in a race is hard. Of course, I don't mind if he's more successful than me in the race, but on the other hand, it does annoy me a bit, because, naturally, I owe it to myself to be better than Henry," said the 19-year-old from Schkölen in Thuringia. Niklas Raths, another ADAC MX Youngster Cup rider, is very familiar with the problem. The 21-year-old from Niederzier in North Rhine-Westphalian has trained with his buddy Nils Gehrke for ages and does not find exploiting his mate's weaknesses easy either. "We talk an awful lot together and analyse each other's driving style, course we do. But we are most definitely opponents and not friends out on track, that's abundantly clear to both of us. However, our aim is and will always remain to get the top together and treat each other fairly at all times," said the MX star.

Czech rider Smola Frantisek cannot always guarantee that he won't get envious. He has a very good friend in Florent Richier and also a very able opponent. "I often go to races with Florent in my home country. He has a particular driving style that I really like and I learn a lot from him. That spurs me on, certainly, but now and again, I find myself getting a bit jealous of him," said the 24-year-old candidly. Jan Uhlig sees things differently. The German is in constant competition with Angus Heidecke but can most definitely accept that Angus is considerably faster out on track and that he himself struggles to keep up with him: "Angus pulls me along with him and that makes me better, but I can clearly see my mistakes when I don't manage to tuck in behind him. It's down to me to optimise my performance."

The situation is similar with the two Masters riders Grégory Aranda and Matteo Bonini. The Frenchman and the Italian focus on each other in the race and not on fellow competitors. "Sébastien Pourcel is obviously one of my toughest opponents and I sometimes meet up with him at the training track, as he lives only 15 minutes away from me. But friendship goes out of the window in the race, because everyone wants to finish first," said the 24-year-old, making no bones about things. Bonini watches his rivals and only analyses them in the run-up to the race: "I cannot and will not focus on trying to beat another rider out on track. I know what I can do and that's why I put everything into winning - no matter who my rivals are," said the 19-year-old confidently.

Robert Sturm Junior, however, has quite a different take on things. The son of team principal, Robert Sturm, is not only an ADAC MX Masters rider but also acts as mechanic to some of his team-mates, which is why he always puts his own desire to win on the backburner in order to make way for his friends, who are also his opponents. "I'm more interested in seeing others do well, because after all, it's me who who sets up their motorcycles and does the work on them. I see myself rather as someone who rides for fun, whereas my team-mates, on the other hand, are pro riders and deserve more to win," said the 29-year-old from Germany's south west.