Max Nagl again scores maximum points to extend his lead at the top of the table. Cornelius Töndel secures second place overall to move up to third in the championship. Tom Koch celebrates his third overall podium of the season.
A challenging track and good race conditions helped MC Vellahn celebrate a successful debut in the ADAC MX Masters in front of plenty of enthusiastic fans. Max Nagl (D/KMP-Honda-Racing powered by Krettek) once again scored maximum points as he triumphed at the third event of the season. A commanding performance from Cornelius Töndel (NOR/Schmicker Racing) saw him claim second spot overall in Vellahn after two second-place finishes in the races. Tom Koch (D/Kosak Racing Team) was delighted with his first overall podium of the season, having crossed the finishing line in third place on Sunday. Nagl further extended his lead in the championship ahead of Maximilian Spies (D/Kosak Racing Team), who claimed sixth place in Vellahn. Töndel moved up to third in the table.
Max Nagl proves unbeatable on a new track
It was a first visit to Vellahn for four-time ADAC MX Masters champion Max Nagl, but he quickly familiarised himself with the track and laid down a marker in qualification as LS2 Best Qualifier. He recorded a dominant start-finish win in the opening race on Saturday. In Sunday’s second race, he just missed out on the Red Bull Holeshot and had to work his way up from fourth place before taking the lead six laps before the finish. He admitted that the second race victory had been an exhausting affair. In the third race, the reigning champion enjoyed an easier time as he delivered another start-finish victory. The overall win in Vellahn sees him extend his lead in the championship to 49 points.
“It was a really good weekend. This was my first time in Vellahn, but I coped well with the challenging track and the basic setup on my motorbike was good from the word go. However, those were no easy race wins. That second race in particular took a lot out of me, so my energy levels were way down in the final third of the third race. That makes me all the happier to be leaving Vellahn with three race wins,” said a beaming Nagl at the prize ceremony.
Great racing from Cornelius Töndel
Behind Nagl, Cornelius Töndel was clearly the best of the riders at the ADAC MX Masters. The Norwegian showed his class with three commanding second-place finishes in the races. In race one, he was able to fend off Jordi Tixier (F/KMP-Honda-Racing powered by Krettek) at the end. After the Red Bull Holeshot, he led the second race for two-thirds of the full distance before Nagl managed to overtake him. The final race also saw him chasing Nagl from the start. He maintained that position to the flag to claim second place overall, putting him ahead of his team-mate Adam Sterry (GB/Schmicker Racing), who is third in the table.
“Second place is good, Max was simply too fast this weekend. I got a holeshot and was in the lead for a long time in race two. This is definitely positive for me and gives me more self-belief ahead of the next round,” concluded a satisfied Töndel as he reviewed the weekend.
First podium finishes of the year for Tom Koch
Having recovered from his back injury, Tom Koch produced better performances in Vellahn than in the first two races of the season. Finishing seventh on Saturday represented a marginal improvement but in Sunday’s second race, he moved up from sixth on the grid to claim third place and a first podium of the season. He started the third race back in tenth position but worked his way up to third by the halfway point. He secured third place in the event standings, ahead of Tixier and Henry Jacobi (D/KTM Sarholz Racing Team), to move up to fifth in the championship.
“Spending six weeks on the couch is certainly not conducive for racing, which makes me all the happier to have claimed my first podium of the year. Taking my back injury into account, the weekend could hardly have gone any better,” said a delighted Koch.
All the races from both event days can be viewed free of charge as a re-livestream from Saturday andSunday or as individual races, using the ADAC MX Masters playlist on the ADAC Motorsport YouTube channel. All the results from the weekend are available online at adac.de/mx-masters.
