The development of young motocross talent has always been a fundamental part of the ADAC MX Masters concept. A total of three junior classes compete in the series, ranging from the youngest riders in the ADAC MX Junior Cup 85, through the intermediate ADAC MX Junior Cup 125, to the ADAC MX Youngster Cup. The Young Talents Team classification has been added for the 2025 season.
Before the ADAC MX Masters started in 2005, there was already the ADAC MX Junior Cup for young riders on their 85cc machines. This international junior racing series was launched in 1996, with riders such as Josef Dobes, Christian Brockel, Daniel Siegl, Kevin Strijbos, Tanel Leok, Max Nagl and Gert Krestinov winning the championship. When the ADAC MX Masters was developed, three classes were planned from the outset in order to build up and secure the sport in the long term. After the inaugural season, in which only the ADAC MX Junior Cup was held alongside the professional ADAC MX Masters class, the ADAC MX Youngster Cup was added as a third class in 2006. The success of this concept is evident from the many big names that have made it to the top of the world rankings, such as Ken Roczen, Jeffrey Herlings, Clement Desalle, Jeremy Seewer and many more. They have competed continuously in the ADAC and developed through the youth classes. In 2018, the ADAC MX Junior Cup 125 was added to serve as an intermediate stage between the 85 cc two-stroke machines and the 250 cc four-stroke machines, which are mainly used in the ADAC MX Youngster Cup. This pyramid of junior classes up to the top class has become an integral part of the series. The young riders stand together with the professionals under a team awning, where they can learn a lot, ask questions and talk to the top stars about line selection, setups and more.
Scheduling solutions instead of conflicts
The aim of the ADAC MX Masters is to offer the stars of tomorrow as many races as possible in which they can compete against each other. The MXGP World Championship quickly adopted the ADAC's junior concept and has been hosting races in the various European Championship classes as part of the Grand Prix for many years. To ensure that young riders do not have to commit to one series or another, the European Championship calendar is also taken into account in the planning of the ADAC MX Masters to avoid scheduling conflicts for the young riders. This allows the young talent to compete in several championships at once and develop their skills.
Strong as a team
In order to promote the core idea of supporting young talent even more strongly among the teams, an additional Young Talents classification has been introduced for the 2025 season alongside the ADAC MX Masters team classification, in which the best results from all four racing classes are added together. In this classification, only the best results of a team in the three junior classes count. This supports teams that are dedicated to promoting young talent in the three junior classes. In future, teams in both categories will receive prize money per event instead of an end-of-year bonus. This is because not every racing team can or wants to afford an established professional as a figurehead in the premier class, and this gives them the opportunity to win additional prize money. Teams such as Cat Moto Bauerschmidt Husqvarna, Mefo Sport Racing Team, KTM MX Futures and Team WZ-Racing KTM have long focused on training strong young riders and have signed up for the new classification. The fact that the ‘big’ teams, which also have riders in the ADAC MX Masters class, receive points for their young riders in the Young Talents classification means that the teams can also compete with each other in terms of promoting young talent.
