Saturday morning at the Aichwald ‘In den Horben´ circuit in Baden-Württemberg started out promisingly enough, with sunshine and mid-summer temperatures. The weather then changed abruptly for the qualifying session, with heavy downpours turning the 1,755-metre-long grassy track into a formidable challenge for the motocross riders in all three ADAC MX Masters classes. The surface, which normally provides excellent grip, became increasingly slippery, making it difficult to stay upright.
An imperious Max Nagl (KMP Racing Honda) was not intimidated by the difficult conditions in the qualifying session of the ADAC MX Masters and, with a best time of 02:11.148 minutes, was significantly faster than his closest challenger in the class, Petr Smitka from the Czech Republic (Cofain Racing Team). The 26-year-old from Weilheim south of Munich is making a guest appearance at Aichwald: "I wanted to set my fastest lap as soon as possible, since the track was getting worse by the minute with the amount of rain that had come down. Fortunately, I managed to do that right at the beginning. With regard to the race on Sunday, I´m not feeling quite as confident, because the mud is sticking to the bike and making the machine very heavy. It means that the race is something of a lottery, because you never know if you might come off your bike at any moment." The third-best lap time was set by World Championship rider David Philippaerts (Yamaha Motor Deutschland, AC Motec by STC). The 30-year-old from Pietrasanta in Italy is also a guest contestant at this third round of the 2014 ADAC MX Masters.
Current championship leader Pascal Rauchenecker (Cofain Racing Team) was meanwhile experiencing major problems. The 21-year-old from Austria was unable to qualify directly on Saturday and secured a place for Sunday´s starting gate only via the last chance race. "I was simply unable to post a quick time on the first two laps. Then, on the fourth lap, the rain started to come down, I came off my bike twice and it was all over. Luckily, things worked out OK in the last chance race; otherwise the weekend would have been a disaster."
ADAC MX Youngster Cup
The result of the qualifying session for the ADAC MX Youngster Cup was a re-run of the Masters event in Ried (Austria). Arminas Jasikonis from Lithuania (Steel Mustang Racing, KTM) set the fastest lap to secure first place at the starting gate for Sunday. "Actually, I´m not all that bothered if it rains in tomorrow´s race, because I like competing in the mud," said the 16-year-old. "In fact, this would work in my favour. As for today, I´m more than happy with my performance." Second fastest was Calvin Vlaanderen (KTM Bodo Schmidt Motorsports) from the Netherlands. He, too, was visibly pleased with his result, explaining that he was able to improve considerably in the last ten minutes. P3 in the session went to Denmark´s Thomas Kjer Olsen (STC Racing).
ADAC MX Junior Cup
The results from the ADAC MX Junior Cup did not spring any surprises. Finland´s Kim Savaste (KTM Red Bull Factory) qualified in first position, as on the two previous race weekends of the season. "The track was very slippery and I had to brake quite sharply," said the 14-year-old. "The race will certainly be a tough one, because they are forecasting rain for the whole of tomorrow." One rider who was genuinely surprised by his own performance was 14-year-old Jeremy Sydow from Chemnitz (Falcon Motorsports / ADAC Sachsen); he gets second choice of starting place on Sunday: "My last lap was really bad, and I would have never expected to do so well. Now I have to hold my nerve, which won´t be easy with the weather that´s being forecast."
Programme of events
On Sunday, there will be the traditional autograph session with the top riders from the motocross series. Championship leader Pascal Rauchenecker (Cofain Racing KTM) and reigning ADAC MX Masters Champion Dennis Ullrich (KTM Sarholz Racing Team) will be joined by the three World Championship riders Max Nagl (KMP Honda Racing), Clement Desalle (Rockstar Energy Suzuki Factory Racing) and David Philippaerts (Yamaha Motor Germany, AC Motec by STC) at the session which runs from 12:15 to 12:45 next to the ADAC Truck. They will be signing posters and cards, and also answering questions from fans.
MX of Nations
At the request of the DMSB committee, the ADAC has taken charge of the German national team for the MX of Nations. As of 2014, the ADAC will be responsible for the organisation and marketing of the German motocross elite which currently includes Ken Roczen (Red Bull KTM-Pilot), Max Nagl, Marcus Schiffer (Team Suzuki Waldmann) and Dennis Ullrich. The ADAC will act as the main point of contact for all questions relating to the competition which has been held since 1947. Germany first won the title at Lommel (Belgium) in 2012. The sporting aspects of the team are still in the capable hands of team manager Hubert Nagl.