What 15-year-old Maximilian Spies has always wanted to do as a career has never been in any doubt: "I want to turn pro, for sure, and earn my living, contesting motocross world championships here in Europe or in America," he said candidly. "Ken Roczen is my role model. He is someone I've always greatly admired from being a wee nipper. He's gone his own way and has achieved tremendous successes. I would like to follow in his footsteps!"

It was through his father, who used to contest motocross races that he first became interested in the sport. Little Maximilian got his first PW50 at the tender age of three and was inseparable from the bike thereafter. While his first race at the age of six was not a great success, he had a lot of fun: "I rode into the pits in the middle of the race, because I wanted a bit of a chat," said the junior rider, laughing at himself and his first outing in an MX race.

Without pit stops, his results quickly improved, and so, Maximilian's father decided after securing the title in a local State championship in 2012 to bring his own career as a motocross rider to a close and dedicate himself entirely to that of his son. Young Max has made a strapping young man at 1.90 metres in height, weighing some 83 kilos. After a family conference about his future direction, the decision was made that he should contest the 2019 season in the ADAC MX Youngster Cup. "I'm very tall and weigh a lot for my age," said Maximilian. "So we switched from a 125cc to a 250cc machine that has more power and my size is no longer a big problem. Actually, I would have preferred to ride the smaller 125, but the starts especially were tough for a big guy like me on the little bike."

Spies Junior showed that he was ready to move up a class in the first round of the ADAC MX Youngster Cup at Fürstlich Drehna where he turned up trumps in his home race and promptly finished on the podium. "That was a huge success for us," he said after his brilliant opening round. Despite having injured his hand, he fought his way up into P8 in the daily standings in the second race at Möggers and reached the goal he had set himself despite injury. "I don't want to blow my own trumpet too much, but regular finishes in the Top Ten would be just the ticket in my first year in the Youngster Cup."

The people around him, with whom he began working while still very young, constitute an important part on his long journey to achieving success. "Training for me has become much more professional thanks to sponsorship by the ADAC Sports Foundation," he told us. "I meet up regularly with specialist fitness trainers and coaches, enabling me to be better prepared for the task ahead." As a result, he is on target to achieve success and can go on to have a successful career. "It's now down to me," said Maximilian with a chuckle. "I love motocross and will do everything in my power to become a successful pro rider!"