The fact that there is both competition and friendship between riders is shown by the family atmosphere that exists at every ADAC MX Masters meeting once the paddock has been set up and the 250 riders taking part have found a spot for themselves and their team. After that, many riders will then make the rounds of the paddock to say 'hello' and some have even become such good friends that they are practically inseparable from that moment on.

This is the case, for example, with Jeremy Seewer, Hunter Lawrence and Arminas Jasikonis. The three ADAC MX Masters riders from Team Suzuki World MX2 and MXGP are not just team-mates, they are extremely good buddies. "The three of us are all a bit crazy. I think that's what we have most in common," says 17-year-old Hunter with a chuckle, adding, "We can talk about anything under the sun, even about girls. I totally trust Arminas and Jeremy. They're always there for me, and that makes me feel really good." The young Australian met the other two when he joined Team Suzuki last year. Since then, the three of them have stuck together through thick and thin. For Swiss rider Jeremy, it's mainly a shared sense of humour that connects him with Hunter and Arminas. "You couldn't wish for better team-mates. They're such a refreshing change. I'm more a quiet kind of guy, but Hunter is outgoing and lively. We make a good fit. When we're out and about together, other people often think we've got a tile loose, but we're just simply having a laugh together. Arminas and Hunter have become very important to me," says the 22-year-old. Lithuanian rider Arminas has known Jeremy for even longer than Hunter. The two of them were already good friends before Arminas switched from Team Pfeil to the Suzuki outfit last year. "Jeremy is a real cool dude, that's what I like about him. And it's the same with Hunter. We have the same interests and can laugh about the same things. We sometimes meet up at Jeremy's and have dinner together. Those evenings always turn out really well," says Arminas, who lives in the Belgian town of Lommel, like Jeremy and Hunter.

Dominique Thury has also been able to get together more often with his big buddy Cedric Grobben. The friendship between the 24-year-old rider from Team KTM GST Berlin and the 22-year-old Belgian sprang up many years ago when Dominique moved to Belgium for a year, and they would often meet up during training sessions. "Nique is very funny and laughs all the time in actual fact. His laid-back attitude will often take away the pressure as we have a brief chat before the start. Besides, you can never be in a bad mood when he's around. Quite the opposite, Nique has the unique gift of always being able to cheer you up," says Cedric, describing his good friend from Germany, who for his part, is proud to have a mate like the 22-year-old, with whom he can talk away from the racing on a level which is in no way just banter. "I just know that anything I tell Cedric will go no further and not get spread around the paddock. Having such friends is tremendously important, because you know you can count on them when it comes down to the crunch. I also get on well with the rest of his family. Sometimes, when I'm chatting with Cedric on FaceTime, his dad will often join in, and then we all have a cosy chat together," says the 24-year-old about his friend, who is an ADAC MX Masters class rider just like him.

The friendship between ADAC MX Youngster Cup rider Paul Haberland and ADAC MX Masters ace Stephan Büttner also first developed through an initial contact while out motocross training. Paul's father was Stephan's mechanic for a year during 2008, so the two of them would often come across one another and soon realised that they had more in common than motocross. "Stephan is a very quiet guy and usually knows just what to say whenever I'm wound up. Since he's had that little bit more experience of life than me, he's often able to put me on the right path when I'm temporarily at a loss. I find that very helpful," says Paul, "It's nice to have a friend like Stephan, as he's very single-minded, and I can learn one or two things from him." The 21-year-old benefits in turn from the 17-year-old's relaxed take on things. "The difference in age is completely by the by and doesn't matter to us in the slightest. On the contrary, Paul is always laid-back, which both takes my mind off things and also helps me to relax - especially during race weekends. We build each other up, help each other and talk a lot. Besides, we see each other at least every two weeks during training. Paul is great to have around," says Stephan about his friendship with Paul.