This 13th ADAC MX Masters season is a very special one, as the motocross race series will stage its 100th meeting on the 15th/16th July at the MCE Tensfeld eV near Plön which is the exact same spot where the ADAC MX Masters was first held in April 2005. Apart from a one-year break, the club in Schleswig-Holstein has regularly organised meetings ever since the launch of the race series. Along with local clubs Fürstlich Drehna, Aichwald and Holzgerlingen, Tensfeld shares the honour of having staged the most ADAC MX Masters meetings, twelve in all so far.

ADAC Sports President Hermann Tomczyk: "The ADAC MX Masters will reach a special milestone with the staging of its 100th meeting. I would like to thank all those involved in helping to turn the ADAC MX Masters into Europe's most popular motocross race series. With the ADAC MX Masters at the top of the pyramid, and the ADAC MX Junior Cup, the ADAC MX Youngster Cup and our extremely successful ADAC MX Academy propping it up, we have over these past few years built a coherent system of bringing on talent that is without parallel. Our intention from the outset was to set up a series that would directly underpin the world championship, making it much easier for riders to become part of the world's elite."

ADAC Head of Motorsport Thomas Voss: "The success of the ADAC MX Masters and its big field of entrants, attracting many international competitors, prove just how relevant the series is and that our concept is perfect. We will continue to develop the ADAC MX Masters with the support of the many local clubs, who are extremely committed."

The ADAC motocross series has become the most popular in Europe during the course of the previous 99 meetings. Many of today's world champions, Ken Roczen, Max Nagl, Pauls Jonass and Jeremy Seewer, have been involved with the Masters ever since being young lads, training as MX pros to become one of the big boys in the top flight through contesting first the ADAC MX Junior Cup and then the ADAC MX Youngster Cup - and with gratifying results. Roczen became the youngest world champion in history at the tender age of 17. Today, he is celebrated as a superstar in the USA. Nagl, who, like Roczen, has won the ADAC MX Masters title twice, took third place overall in the 2016 world championship and is now ranked eighth among the best motocross riders in the world. Jonass is number one in the MX2 world championship at the moment, and current MX2 world championship runner-up Seewer is right behind him, snapping at his heels.

"The ADAC MX Masters has been a very important race series for me, as it more or less laid the foundation for my future career. The meetings were my first at an international level and were always very special to me. In the Masters, you have to pit yourself against the world's best in order to improve even at a very early stage in the ADAC MX Junior Cup, so making your way into the world championship via the race series is essential in actual fact," says Nagl. And Jonas also sees things the same way: "The ADAC MX Masters was for me one of the most important steps in my MX career. My victory in the 2011 ADAC MX Junior Cup was the key to opening all the doors for me, because the Masters has such a high profile internationally," said the Latvian.

Other ADAC MX Masters riders, who have achieved success, include three-time champion, Dennis Ullrich, and two-time ADAC MX Masters winner, Marcus Schiffer. Along with Max Nagl and Ken Roczen, Schiffer won the coveted Chamberlain Trophy for Germany during the Motocross of Nations, the 'Motocross Olympics', at Lommel in 2012. They caused quite a bit of a stir at the motocross team world championship as a result with their first title win, showing once again how much they had developed thanks to the ADAC MX Masters. Ullrich is also now in the German motocross national squad. "The ADAC MX Masters has been a constant companion for quite some time and has been the best thing in my career for over ten years now. It's the best racing series in Europe as far as I'm concerned. Above all, the Masters has made it possible for me to compete anywhere in the world," said the 23-year-old proudly.

The ADAC motocross race series was first set up in 2005 after the DMX, the German motocross championship, had come to a stuttering halt a year earlier due to a combination of many factors. At the time, the DMX had only ever held three meetings, which from an organising club's and rider's point of view, was unsustainable. Then along came the ADAC MX Masters with a concept that would give motocross talents, teams, and organising clubs a secure, high-calibre sporting platform that would guarantee planning security for teams and riders and would also actively sponsor juniors. Race series boss Dieter Porsch brought MX legend Didi Lacher on board to accomplish the task, and current KTM Sports Director Pit Beirer also helped out the ADAC initially with advice and by getting involved. Lacher: "As a former MX professional and coach, I had an excellent idea of exactly what was needed to successfully develop young talents. Our intention was to set up a series that would directly underpin the world championship, making it much easier for riders to become part of the world's top elite. World championship rider Seewer echoed that, saying: "The Masters was, for me, the perfect route into the world championship at a young age. The circuits are excellent, the field of riders extremely strong, the system is similar to the world championship, its organisation is first-rate and there's a great atmosphere. Everything is on a very demanding level, meaning that I as a rider can be well prepared for the world championship," said the successful Swiss ace.

While the racing series got under way in 2005 with just the ADAC MX Masters and the ADAC MX Junior Cup which had already been in existence since 1996, it was obvious from the outset that there had to be another class between the rookies and the pros to cater for all ages. "Basically, it was the first time that anyone had ever had the idea of setting up an international German championship with the assistance of a number of good clubs. However, the concept developed very rapidly. Adding the ADAC MX Youngster Cup to the race series was the next logical step towards putting the series on an international footing and making it interesting for young European and world championship riders," said Race Director Porsch in retrospect.

Europe's MX elite will meet for a second time this season in the far north of Germany, at MCE Tensfeld eV this time, and while a little over a thousand spectators came to watch the action in Germany's biggest motocross sand-pit, ten thousand fans are now expected, for whom many more stands have had to be built over the years so that they can follow the races from start to finish.