"If you put diesel in a Ferrari, then the engine will not run. If, on the other hand, you fill up with four-star, then the vehicle will drive like a Ferrari should. Exactly the same applies to athletes. You are what you eat. Food is, so to speak, fuel for the motocross rider, because practically anyone can open up the throttle, but riding is actually only the tip of the iceberg," explains Collin Dugmore, holder of several motocross championship titles. He runs a motocross school in Germany and his own MX Masters rookie team at ADAC Hessen-Thüringen. He also gives advice about nutrition to many young talents. Born in South Africa, he won 13 national and international titles during his career as a rider and then took up coaching in order to pass on his knowledge and experience to the next generation.

"I've had a great deal to with the subject of diet and nutrition as a pro rider and have sought to increase my knowledge throughout. However, you can quickly get confused about what is good for your body and what's not so good, so you need clear guidelines. We offer special seminars for the youngest, who we supervise all year round, teaching them how to eat healthily and telling them what they should do without where possible. There are a few basic rules that you should adhere to if you want to achieve lasting success. Milk and milk products are not really beneficial, for example, and you should completely cut out white flour and not eat too much meat," adds Collin. In his opinion, being vegetarian for the most part is the most sensible option, concentrating mainly on fruit and vegetables. According to Collin, sweets and fast food are, however, an absolute no-no.

“It’s best to feed the body with plenty of natural nutrients, so that it can extract the most energy. What you eat over a race weekend is particularly important. During this time, your stores of carbohydrates and protein stores must be well filled, and that can be achieved by eating pasta, potatoes or bread and protein-rich foods such as beans, egg, fish or chicken as well before the points-scoring rounds,” says the 48-year-old, who has lived in Niederrossbach, to the north of Frankfurt, for several years now.

Brothers Tim and Tom Koch have both been following Collin Dugmore’s tips on nutrition for some time now. They only eat healthily and only ever sin occasionally after a race when they might munch on a few jelly babies or some chocolate as a small reward. However, such moments of weakness, as Tim calls them, are rare, and instead, the guys prefer to support each other in sticking to their diet plan and eating well. “Breakfast consists either of porridge oats with fruit or a bread roll with honey. We always have a proper meal at midday. Every day in the evening, there’s usually bread with a protein-rich, low-fat spread, plus, we also eat a lot of vegetables like peppers, cucumber or broccoli with it,” says the schoolboy from Apolda in Thuringia, describing a typical daily menu in the Koch household. During a race weekend, food becomes more important for the two brothers, one of whom, Tim, rides for ADAC MX Masters team, stielergruppe.mx Johannes Bikes Suzuki while the other, Tom, competes in the ADAC MX Youngster Cup for KTM Sarholz Racing. They both then eat mainly foods such as noodles and rice. “Whole-grain pasta and red-lentil noodles, for example, have an enormous amount of protein which can really enhance performance,” says Tim. Any other preparations or energy boosting aids such as so-called energy bars are taboo for the two motocross riders, since their effects are not long-lasting enough and so, not worthwhile.

ADAC MX Masters rider Henry Jacobi also subscribes to Coach Collin Dugmore’s nutrition tips and is of a similar opinion. While the 20-year-old openly admits that it is not always easy for him to go without certain foods during the week, the closer it gets towards a race, the more he sticks to his regime. “In motocross, you notice the slightest change in your diet straightaway, and it’s usually not worth even thinking about eating a chocolate bar. We’re interested in performing at a high level, and sweets consist mainly of trans-fats, which are a load of rubbish. No human should ever eat them,” says the rider, who has lined up with STC Racing since the start of this season.

Instead, Henry looks forward to the culinary highlight of his week, consisting of mangetout, cherry tomatoes and pasta with pesto. Fish is also on the menu once a week. The world championship rider is not really a fish-lover but eats it nevertheless, because he knows it contains healthy nutrients. Rye bread is served every day for supper at the Jacobis. The Husqvarna rider never eats wheat, because of the industrialised nature of its production.

So, as you can see, anyone who wants to compete in an extreme sport such as motocross needs to be fit, both mentally and physically. The body can only function properly when it’s given the right fuel to burn to produce energy and perform at its best.