A trio of KTM Youngsters took part in the European Junior Championship in Capriasca (Switzerland), while the other two were on the track.
The European Championship of the junior mountain bikers took place this year in Capriasca (Canton Ticino). With Timo Brandl, Simon Potstada and Paulina Weigelt three KTM youngsters started as Team Bayern I. Four competitions had to be completed on the hot and dusty track: Time Trial, Relay, Eliminator and Cross Country Race.
On the first day of competition, a time trial was on the agenda. There were 234 starters in the U17 male division alone. On the short and fast course, a good start was important, but this failed for Simon, who finished in 60th place. Timo had a much better start and rode at full throttle to third place and thus to the podium in this discipline. Paulina finished in 14th place.
On the second day, the KTM trio rode the relay together. Timo was the first to go out on the track, and although he had to let a few riders go on the long climb, he handed over to Paulina in a good position. Unfortunately, she dropped back to 19th place. But Simon was strong on this day and drove the relay team to seventh place.
The next day it went on with the Eliminators. Unfortunately, Paulina and Simon were both eliminated in their first run. The elimination was particularly bitter for Simon, who was only 18 millimeters short of advancing. For Timo it went well until the quarter finals. Here he only just missed out on a place in the semi-finals in a photo finish. Nevertheless, the KTM rider was very happy about his ninth place in this competition.
After a rest day, the cross-country races were to conclude the European Championship. All three KTM youngsters were very happy about the rest, to then return to the track with fresh energy. The U17 male had to go in the afternoon heat. The race was long and energy-sapping. Due to the many starters, the field jammed, so Timo had to dismount on some climbs. In the end, he finished 40th, which was just as unpleasant as Simon’s 81st place. Simon had been in 20th place in the meantime, but a crash caused Simon’s saddle to slide down and he lost many places. At least Timo was happy to have finished as the best German rider in the overall standings.
The best placing of the KTM Youngster in the XCO was achieved by Paulina as fourth. At first she was disappointed to have just missed the podium, but in the end the satisfaction about the good placement prevailed.
Niclas Look and Nico Wollenberg took part in the Trainalyzed Wahoo Cups in Mannheim and Linkenheim this weekend. The first track in Mannheim has its best days already behind it, so it was very important to find the right line. An Omnium competition was held in each case, with the disciplines of elimination, handicap race and Madison.
In the age group U15 with Niclas 25 starters went into the race. The KTM youngster was a bit excited as he hadn’t raced competitively on the track for a while. The first race was the elimination race. Niclas was able to hold his position well for the first few laps, but then was pushed to the back and dropped out. He was a little disappointed about that. In the handicap race Niclas didn’t have a good position and didn’t really get far forward. The first race day did not go as desired. On Sunday Niclas was in a good shape for it and was ready for the elimination race. His nervousness was no longer there because he now knew that he could still do it. So the 14-year-old was right up front. In between it was always very hard, but the KTM youngster fought his way up to fourth place. He was very happy about this result and therefore went into the handicap race with a good feeling. Standing at the front, Niclas defended his position and took his first victory. In the Madison, the KTM youngster did not reach with his partner and both were not satisfied with their performance.
In the U17, the Omnium started with a tempo race to qualify the A and B heats. Nico was in the front and secured a place for the A-final. The elimination race went less well, where the KTM youngster misunderstood the speaker and mistakenly finished the race. Things went better in the handicap race, however, where he finished second. In the Madison he then finished third with his partner on Saturday. On the second day, things did not go satisfactorily for Nico in the first three competitions. Once again, however, the Madison provided a positive ending, as Nico and his partner rode to fourth place this time and just missed the podium.
