The long wait has been worth it. The ADAC MX Masters will get its ‘2020 Short Season’ under way at Grevenbroich this weekend (19th/20th September). The regular field of international and national riders will be joined by more guest entrants from the Motocross World Championship to get the season started.
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Officially approved guidelines and regulations to protect against the spread of covid prohibit spectators from coming to the track, so racing in all four classes will be broadcast as free-to-air live stream on youtube.com/ADAC at 12.40 CET on Saturday and on Sunday at 10.20 CET. As reigning ADAC MX Masters Champion Dennis Ullrich will not be taking part due to an injury, the runner-up from 2019, Austria’s Pascal Rauchenecker, is now the title favourite. However, he will face strong competition from Jordi Tixier, Kevin Wouts, Jeremy Delince, Brian Hsu as well as from the German contingent made up of Tom and Tim Koch, Stefan Ekerold and Mike Stender.
2018 ADAC MX Masters Champion Henry Jacobi will be making his comeback in the series as he battles for victory on the day in the opener at Grevenbroich. Belgium’s Kevin Strijbos will also be taking advantage of a weekend without any MXGP racing to compete at Grevenbroich. Strijbos showed just how good he can be when riding on sand by clinching a one-two victory in a guest start at Tensfeld last year.
Many local heroes from MSC Grevenbroich will be competing in all four classes, and reigning German MX2 Motocross Champion Gianlucca Ecca should have an excellent chance of achieving a top-class result despite injuring his shoulder a few weeks ago. “Preparing for the season this year has been tricky, because for a long time, it was not clear that there would even be one,” said Ecca. “But now I’m looking forward to the weekend and intend to score as many points as possible.” Apart from the ADAC MX Masters class, some 200 participants from no less than 17 countries will also compete at Grevenbroich in the ADAC MX Youngster Cup, ADAC MX Junior Cup 125 and ADAC MX Junior Cup 85. With the exception of the MX Junior Cup 85, all classes will contest three and not the usual two races. The first rounds will be held on Saturday afternoon.
For the first time ever, a free-to-air live stream of all the races will be made available in order to give ADAC MX Masters fans everywhere a chance to enjoy the racing atmosphere. Experienced ADAC MX Masters series presenter Thomas Deitenbach will be our commentator while in between races, Lukas Greussing will keep us entertained, providing up-to-date information, enlivened with interviews and interesting insights from the paddock. The live stream will go out until around 5.30 CET on both days at youtube.com/ADAC and adac.de/motorsport, starting at 12.40 CET on Saturday and at 10.20 a.m. Sunday.
At MSC Grevenbroich, the ADAC eV has been able to find a new, well-motivated organiser in these difficult times, on whose popular MX track the first race of the short season is now about to be held. The circuit is situated to the east of Cologne and for a long time, has been very popular with top international riders and teams as a training and testing ground. The venue has hosted various events in the past, including the German Motocross Championship. Circuit manager Tim Münchhofen has had plenty of experience as an ADAC MX Masters rider and is well aware what constitutes a good race track: “The ‘Sommerbahn’, on which the ADAC MX Masters will be held, is our summer race track. The circuit is very challenging both technically and physically.” Germany’s fastest motocross lady, Larissa Papenmeier, will compete on her Yamaha as a guest at Grevenbroich. She came third in the 2019 Women’s World Championship and will go up against male competitors in the ADAC MX Youngster Cup. Freestyle motocross professional and former finalist in the Supertalent TV show Kai Haase from Berlin will be another interesting rider to watch at Grevenbroich as he returns to his racing roots in the ADAC MX Masters. He told us: “FMX competitions and shows are currently not taking place in view of the situation with Corona. However, instead of whingeing about it, I now intend to pursue my second great passion which is racing and hope I can pick up a point or two as in the past.”
Photo: ADAC Motorsport
