Lars Reuther´s eyes begin to sparkle when he thinks of the ADAC MX Masters event in Aichwald. The reason for his eager anticipation is the thought of the beautiful 1,755 metre meadow track run by MSC Eiserne Hand e.V that naturally follows the contours of the area in his native Baden-Württemberg. "I´m lining up as a local rider there, and many of my friends will come along to cheer me on, which increases your motivation enormously. Besides, I like the many turns and roller-coaster of a track at Aichwald," said the rider from nearby Pleidelsheim, just 30 miles from the circuit.
It´s taken Lars 14 years to climb the ladder to the top in motocross. He has always been among the best riders in the ADAC MX Youngster Cup these past few years, and in 2014, the ambitious sportsman aims to prove in the Masters class, which is the next class up, just what he is made of. "I´m just not your typical naturally talented motocrosser but have had to work hard to develop my skills over the years through plenty of training and by not being a quitter," he told us proudly.
However, none of his friends and colleagues would ever have expected the fully fledged mechatronics engineer, who likes watching films and listening to rock and hip hop music and what´s currently in the charts in his spare time to achieve what he has done so far. "People always used to tell me that I would never make it to the top, because I was not good enough, which only served to spur me on to improve even more," said the pro rider, who also works as a street cleaner in the company run by his parents. "My motto is: You reap what you sow! That applies pretty much to me. If I can just hang on in there, then I get good results, just like at school. When I realised what might be, I became even more fixated with the idea of where a career in motocross might take me," said the ADAC MX Masters rider.
He first sat on a race bike as a young strip of a lad aged six, and after that, the thought of doing anything different as a hobby never entered his head. Although his father, who had also been a professional motocross on the circuits in his time, tried to stop son Lars from getting into motor sport, he could in the end no longer deny his child´s most cherished wish. Starting in 1999, only one thing was certain as far as young Reuther was concerned: He wanted to be a motocross rider. And he finally got his wish, but his mother insisted that he finish his secondary schooling without missing too much on account of motocross. His teacher during his time as an apprentice was quite accommodating, allowing him to take time off now and then to pursue his hobby in a more professional manner.
The 21-year-old began to exercise regularly along with his brother Marcel and contested his first race. In 2005, the sports-mad rider joined the ADAC MX Masters and lined up in the ADAC MX Junior Cup in the early years. Three years later, Lars finally moved up into class two, the ADAC MX Youngster Cup. Since then, he has steadily improved, working his way up from 34th place in 2008 to the highest rank in the overall standings today. However, the KTM rider did not have such a great season last year, failing four times to secure any points. A fall was the cause of unsatisfactory results in Tensfeld. His machine broke down in Ried. Injury was the reason for being well down the points in Gaildorf, and in Jauer, technical problems with the bike brought his long-awaited title hopes to nothing. But things are going to be very different this year. Lars lined up for the new season in Fürstlich Drehna with even more determination and aims to secure vital points in the battle for top places in Aichwald.