All five KTM Youngsters took part in the national youngster selection in Bad Tabarz and brought back victories and podium finishes from Thuringia.
Bad Tabarz in Thuringia (between Fulda and Erfurt) was the destination for the elite of Germany’s young mountain bikers on September 10 and 11. As always, the national junior sighting was divided into two competitions on two days. On the first day, the athletes had to complete a slalom, followed by the XC race on the second day. All five KTM youngsters took part.
In the rain on Saturday, Timo Brandl (U17) and Paulina Weigelt (U17) in particular coped best with the conditions and the course. Timo brought down two flawless runs and was rewarded with second place. Paulina could even celebrate a victory after her two flawless runs. Simon Potstada (U17) crashed in the first run and then secured 16th place in the second run. Teammate Nico Wollenberg (U17) finished in 24th place.
U15 starter Niclas Look crashed like Simon in the first run and barely missed out on a top ten finish in the second run.
On Sunday, from the point of view of the KTM Youngsters, the U17s were the first to be challenged. Paulina was pushed away in her race right on the first lap and fell into a bramble bush. However, with a few thorns in her leg, she quickly picked herself up and fought her way back to the front. In the end, Paulina was able to take the win again.
In the boys’ race, Simon fought his way from the midfield to the front and bit his way into the leading group. In the end he could be happy about a very good fourth place. Nico was also able to improve on his starting position and showed an improvement in form. Timo was the unlucky one of the day from the team’s point of view: having started from the front row with good prospects, he had to contend with technical problems that he was unable to rectify himself or in the tech zone. Timo made the best of it, drove the race to the end and thrilled the spectators with spectacular jumps in the finish area.
Exceptionally after his teammates this time Niclas was challenged, who had planned a lot. After a good start, he found himself well positioned in sixth place. Lap after lap, the 14-year-old fought his way up to third place, which he held until the finish. Overall, he was very satisfied with his performance.
In preparation for Bad Tabarz, Simon had ridden in a race of the Austria Youngsters Cup in Kürnberg the week before. There, the KTM youngster made a very good start and was able to take the race lead. After a crash, however, he fell back and had to work his way back to the top 5. This succeeded, because in the end Simon was fifth.
