- Selected for the german MXoN squad
- Damage control in Bielstein after a training crash
- Eighth place overall on the „Waldkurs“
After a three-week break, the fourth round of the ADAC MX Masters took place last weekend in Bielstein. Max sustained a few bruises after crashing in training while preparing for the race. So the strategy was to limit the damage! Max had previously been selected to the official six-member squad of the German motocross national team for the MXoN, which will take place in the USA in October. The final selection of the three team riders will be made in the next weeks.
After an unsatisfying qualifying session in Bielstein, Max got off to a good start in the first race on Saturday and finished the first lap in the top five. He was able to maintain this position in the first half of the race before falling back to eighth place. In the final lap, Max lost two more positions after stalling the engine.
“The start was good and I was able to keep up with the pace at the beginning, even though I had difficulty holding on to the handlebars on the downhills. I made the best of the race despite the pain. Stalling the bike in the last lap was obviously annoying,” said Max after the race.
In the second race, Max returned from the first lap in eleventh place. After the bike’s setup was optimized for Sunday, he fought his way further forward during the race and moved up to eighth place with three laps to go to finish in that position.
In the third race, the start was once again not ideal, but Max was lucky not to be hit by bikes of riders who had crashed in the chaos in the first wave section after the start. From 15th place, he once again fought his way to the front and had an impressive duel with his teammate Nico Koch at the end of the race, crossing the finish line in tenth place. Overall Max finished in 8th position in Bielstein.
“Of course, that’s not what I would have liked, but given the conditions, I did pretty well. I’m still in the top three in the championship and haven’t lost too many points to the second place in the standings. I’m going to recover as best I can now so that I’m as fit as possible for the sand race in Tensfeld next weekend,” Max concluded.
Results:
Quali: 19 (10 Group A)
Moto 1: 10
Moto 2: 8
Moto 3: 10
Overall: 8
Championship: 3
