Max Nagl secured a start-to-finish victory in the first race of the ADAC MX Masters in Bitche. Mads Fredsoe claimed his first race win of the season in the ADAC MX Youngster Cup. Lucas Leok took the win in the ADAC MX Junior Cup 125, replacing Moritz Ernecker.
Fans were treated to a great start on Saturday at the ADAC MX Masters’ international round. Championship leader Max Nagl (D/Dörr Motorsport Triumph Racing) put the rest of the ADAC MX Masters field in their place in Bitche with another start-to-finish victory. In the ADAC MX Youngster Cup, reigning champion Mads Fredsoe (DK/Cat Moto Bauerschmidt KTM) crossed the finish line first. With a bit of luck, Lucas Leok (EST/KTM MX Futures) snatched the race win in the final lap of the ADAC MX Junior Cup 125.
ADAC MX Masters: Nagl wins in commanding fashion
Max Nagl took the lead in the first race right from the start with the Red Bull Holeshot and built up a small lead over Tom Koch (GER/KTM Sarholz Racing Team), Jörgen-Matthias Talviku (EST/SHR Motorsports by Hartje), Acerbis Best Qualifier Roan van de Moosdijk (NL/KTM Kosak Racing Team) and Nico Koch (D/Becker Racing). On the fourth lap, Talviku moved into second place, but crashed a lap later, allowing van de Moosdijk to move up to second. Shortly before the halfway point, Jere Haavisto pushed Koch out of the top three. A lap later, Koch was relegated to fifth place by Spies. With two laps to go, Peter König (D/KTM GST Berlin Racing) secured fifth place with a strong ride. Nagl thus won ahead of van de Moosdijk, Haavisto, Spies and König.
“People watching from the sidelines probably didn’t realise it, but the course was incredibly tough to ride today because of the deep, damp ground. It took a lot of strength to maintain my balance and pull on the handlebars over the bumps on the long climbs. The start was a crucial part of this race, so I focused a lot on that,” said Nagl.
ADAC MX Youngster Cup: Skovbjerg fights his way back to the front
In the ADAC MX Youngster Cup, fans witnessed a fiercely contested race at the front. Initially, following the Red Bull Holeshot, Saku Mansikkamäki (FIN/Schmicker Silve Racing) led ahead of Bence Pergel (HU/HTS Racing Team) and Maximilian Ernecker (A/SixtySeven Racing Team), but lost the lead to Pergel after a crash as early as the second lap. Fredsoe moved up to third place behind Ernecker. Championship leader Skovbjerg struggled with the start once again and, as in the previous week, began the race from the midfield. By the midway point of the race, Fredsoe had taken the lead within two laps, ahead of Pergel and Valentin Kees (D/KTM Kosak Racing Team). On the eighth lap, Lyonel Reichl (LIE/KTM Sarholz Racing Team) moved up from fourth to second place, whilst Kees held onto third by overtaking Pergel. Skovbjerg then pushed the German out of third place with three laps to go. In the penultimate lap, Reichl went down. Fredsoe won ahead of Skovbjerg, Kees defended third place against late challenges from Scott Smulders (NL/SixtySeven Racing Team) and Liam Owens (AUS/Cat Moto Bauerschmidt KTM) rounded off the top five.
“At the start, I was focusing too much on the runners in front of me and struggled to find opportunities to overtake. Just before the halfway point, I was almost overtaken, which woke me up and made me run with more determination. From that point on, I got stronger, took the lead and managed to build up a small lead. I’m very happy to finally be back at the top of the podium,” said a delighted Fredsoe.
ADAC MX Junior Cup 125: Ernecker misses out on victory
Moritz Ernecker (A/Norman KTM Factory Rookies) took the lead with the Red Bull Holeshot in his first race of the season in the ADAC MX Junior Cup 125, but championship leader Leok was right on his tail. As the race progressed, the two front-runners pulled clear of the rest of the field. Initially, Acerbis Best Qualifier Emil Ziemer (CH/Motobike Racing Team) was in third place, but he retired following a crash midway through the race. This allowed Dawid Zaremba (PL/SHR Motorsports by Hartje) to move up to third position. On the final lap, Ernecker’s front wheel slipped on the brake bumps after the pit lane and Leok took the lead. Leok won ahead of Ernecker, Zaremba, Jarno Jansen (CH/ADAC Südbaden e.V.) and Luca Frank (D/Becker Racing).
“I got myself into a good position behind Moritz right from the start. The gap between us fluctuated slightly throughout the race. Towards the end, we were both struggling with the lapped riders, which didn’t make things easy. But then Moritz crashed and I was able to win. I’m happy with that,” explained Leok.
The replay of the first day of racing is available on the ADAC Motorsport YouTube channel. The live stream of all Sunday’s races begins at 10.30 am and can be watched at adac.de/mx-masters.
