The national young rider selection in Böhringen ended with several podium places and even a victory for the KTM Youngsters.
With Niclas Look (U15), Paulina Weigelt, Timo Brandl and Simon Potstada (all U17), four KTM youngsters took part in the national young rider evaluation in Böhringen, Baden-Württemberg. As usual, a technical module was on the programme on Saturday, followed by an XC race on Sunday. The weather was very unstable, which was to have an effect on the races in particular.
On Saturday, the riders had to show their skills in a time trial with an extensive pump track, a rock garden and a meadow section. After about two minutes of riding time, they crossed the finish line. Niclas mastered the task very well and came fifth. Paulina, on the other hand, didn’t get off to a good start that day and came sixth, which the ambitious 15-year-old was not satisfied with. Her peers Simon and Timo, on the other hand, fared better: while the former also finished in the top ten in seventh place, the latter even made it onto the podium in third place.
On Sunday, Niclas was the first to be challenged. His U15 race took place in the dry, as did the U17 girls’ race with Paulina, while the U17 boys had to race in the rain. Niclas started well, but due to a collision with a competitor in the first lap, his chain fell off. Although he was able to fix the defect quickly, a few places were lost. However, Niclas did not let this put him off and started a race to catch up, which brought him up to third place. He defended this position until the finish.
Paulina also had a crash, but right at the start. As a result, she was not able to go full throttle straight away. But a short time later, the KTM-Amazon rider pulled away from her fellow competitors as usual and secured a commanding victory.
Due to the rain that had started in the meantime, the track had become slippery, which posed an additional challenge for the U17s. Therefore, Timo started a little hesitantly, but still managed to jump right into the leading group. However, he crashed on the first lap and had to let several riders – including Simon – pass. His team mate rode in a group of three at the front. Then the long-time leader crashed and had to let a chaser and Simon pass. The two could no longer be pushed aside, so Simon finished second. Behind him, Timo showed fighting spirit, because after a great chase he overtook the long-time leader and also made it onto the podium in third place. A successful weekend for the KTM quartet.
Nico Wollenberg would also have loved to have been there. After his painful crash at the TMP Tour a fortnight ago, he started to build up at the Rapp Cup on the track in Augsburg on Wednesday before the national young rider selection. There he had to realise that his strength was unfortunately not enough for the weekend. However, Nico wants to get back on the road to success soon.
