16,000 fans experienced an amazing feast of motocross riding in fantastic weather with blue skies and warm temperatures for the fifth round of the ADAC MX Masters at Gaildorf. Swiss rider, Jeremy Seewer (Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team), totally lived up to his role as favourite, confidently winning both races, so it’s no surprise at all that he was highly satisfied. “I deliberately did not push too much today,” said Seewer, who is currently number two in the world championship standings. “The track was in superb condition and really enjoyable, but at the same time, it was slippery and challenging, which is why in the second round, I posted a few laps behind Dennis Ullrich before really going on the attack.” Estonian rider, Tanel Leok (A1M Husqvarna), was very keen to do well at Gaildorf. He made up some ground in the championship standings with P2 on the day. “My starts were not brilliant in either of the two races,” he said, a little annoyed with himself. “Also, it took me a long time to find a good rhythm in the first race. I can still feel the effects of my fall at Tensfeld, but nevertheless, I’ve managed to reduce the gap in the championship, and so, am looking forward to the next races at Bielstein and Holzgerlingen. It’s still possible to make up a 19-point deficit. A lot can happen in motocross.”
Dennis Ullrich (Bodo Schmidt Motorsport/Husqvarna) came to Gaildorf with high expectations and was satisfied with third place in the daily rankings. “It was most annoying to see Tanel pass me in the first race on the last lap, but I’ve had a cold just recently and am not quite fit, so I couldn’t fend him off.” Ullrich got away like a rocket in both races as usual and led the second round for a few laps in front of Seewer before he had to let him through. As he finished both races directly behind Leok, Ullrich was four points down on Leok but is still in second place in the championship behind the Belgian, Jens Getteman (Monster Energy Kawasaki Team Elf Pfeil). Although he did not make it onto the podium at Gaildorf, he limited the damage as far as possible with fifth place on the day. “I knew in advance that Gaildorf would not be the best terrain for me,” he told us. “I didn’t really feel too good in the first race and had to settle for sixth place. We adjusted the suspension settings a bit for the second race, and things immediately got better. Unfortunately, it was impossible to do more than fourth place, but still, I defended the championship leader’s red number plate and will do my best to finish on top again at the end of the year.”
Guest starter Henry Jacobi (F & H Racing Team/Kawasaki) did not have an easy time on the hilly track as he faced up to the competition on their 450cc motorcycles, riding the 250cc machine he uses in the MX2 World Championship, but nevertheless, he more than rose to the challenge. Especially in the first race, he turned up trumps with an impressive charge up the field to finish second on the podium behind Seewer. “I got a surprisingly good start,” said the rider, who is currently fifth in the world championship. “Right out of the gate, I was one motorcycle length ahead of everyone else but lost ground again down the straights on my little bike. However, things went quite well in the race, and I was able to improve by a whole series of positions.” Jacobi finished fourth in the daily standings.
ADAC MX Youngster Cup
Once again, the race in the ADAC MX Youngster Cup was dominated by the scrap between Jeremy Sydow (DIGA-Procross Husqvarna) and Rene Hofer (KTM Junior Racing) despite the fact that neither of them could contend for victory at Gaildorf, as Mikkel Haarup notched up impressive wins in both rounds. The Danish world championship rider did indeed feel stretched, but by his own admission, never doubted his ability to win at any stage of the race. Sydow made a small mistake in the first race, which he couldn’t quite correct and just missed the podium by a deficit of a few metres. The championship leader was not satisfied with third place in the second race and the resulting third position in the daily standings. “I just didn’t feel too good here,” he said, feeling upset with the result. “But still, I was at least able to hang on to my lead in the championship.”
With his two finishes, Hofer took six points out of his main opponent in the title race but still remains one point adrift in the championship. “I can’t be totally satisfied, because I didn’t win,” said the 17-year-old. “Haarup was just too fast today, but the championship is wide open again, and I’m looking forward to the next two races at Bielstein and Holzgerlingen.”
There was an unfamiliar face on the podium at Gaildorf, Josiah Natzke (KMP-Honda-Racing) from New Zealand. He was able to win through at the start of the first race and stay in front for eight laps before having to give way to Haarup and Hofer. Nevertheless, he was overjoyed with his first podium of the year: “After winning through at the start, I had to really pull out all the stops!” he said with a chuckle after finishing third. “It felt fantastic!”
ADAC MX Junior Cup 125
There was the usual scenario to begin with in the first race of the ADAC MX Junior Cup as championship leader Simon Längenfelder (WZ-Racing/KTM) led the field. However, on Lap 6, he suddenly failed to appear in the lead again after the section on the upper part of the track. He eventually reappeared almost a minute behind Mike Gwerder (Kini KTM Junior Pro Team). “I overcooked things on the jump and landed in the fence next to the track,” said the 15-year-old, annoyed with himself. “Unfortunately, it took me quite some time to get the bike up and running again.” More than fourth place was no longer possible under the circumstances. However, victory in the second race put a smile back on the teenager’s face again.
Gwerder was there when Längenfelder messed up in Race 1 and claimed his second win of the year. With second place in the second round, he was also able to take victory on the day. “Unfortunately, I could not fend Simon off in the second round,” said Gwerder. “But taking victory on the day is awesome, so I’m mega happy!” The two best rookies in the Junior series, Camden McLellan (Kosak Racing Team/KTM) and Liam Everts, finished behind the two riders, who dominate the ADAC MX Junior Cup 125. South African rider, McLellan finished directly in front of Everts both times and deserved to finish third on the day.
ADAC MX Junior Cup 85
Championship leader, Edvards Bidzans (MX Module/Husqvarna) from Latvia was again on impressive form at Gaildorf and extended his championship lead to 53 points with two comfortable wins. “My start to the second race was not brilliant,” he said, finding just one small fault in an otherwise perfect performance. “But I was able to take P1 on the very first lap and then ride at my own pace. I’m now looking forward to the next race at Bielstein where I could clinch the title before the season ends.” Second place on the day went to the Italian, Ferrucio Zanchi (Husqvarna), while Sacha Coenen (Grizzly Yamaha Junior Team INDG) was third in the daily standings. Valentin Kees (Kosak Racing Team) in P4 on the day was the best-placed German rider.
The German team for the Motocross of Nations on 28th/29th September at Assen was also introduced during the ADAC MX Masters at Gaildorf. Team Principal Wolfgang Thomas will race with Henry Jacobi (MX2), Tom Koch (MXGP) and Dennis Ullrich (MXOpen). Max Nagl has a knee injury and will be unable to compete in the MXoN in the Netherlands but will accompany the squad to Assen as team leader. Ken Roczen has had to decline his invitation to take part for health reasons.
The best scenes from the ADAC MX Masters are again being shown worldwide on TV and Internet in 2019. Motorvision TV is broadcasting highlights from the seven race weekends in a 25-minute magazine programme in more than 100 countries. Sport1+ will feature highlights from the ADAC MX Masters at Gaildorf for the first time at 10.00 am on 17th August. Motorvision International will have its first showing of the magazine on 18th August at 1.30 pm. Race reviews are also available online at adac-mx-masters.de, youtube.de/adac and Facebook.com/adacmxmasters.