4 new riders got their first chance to ride their KTM RC 250 Rs at the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup preseason test at Portimão.
Monday started cold and wet, challenging conditions for all 26 riders and the weather only really improved on Tuesday afternoon. The forecast is better for the final day on Wednesday.
Also getting their first experience in the Rookies Cup are the two KTM Young Professionals; Pia Jaeschke (20/7/2001) and Norick Roth (18/1/2000). The two teenage Germans have been given the same opportunity enjoyed by Laura Stempfer and Maximilian Götz last year; to be an integral part of the Rookies Cup technical staff for the season.
Christian Korntner, Head of Moto3 at KTM, gave his opinion on how the initiative was working. “These Young Professionals are already KTM apprentices and going through the different departments. Last year went very well, better than we expected, Max and Laura were integrated into the Rookies Cup technical staff right from the beginning and we really appreciated the way it worked.”
“Now Norick and Pia have the same opportunity in the Cup and following this they will go back into KTM and could end up in any part of the company. Max is now working in the Junior World Championship and we would expect that sooner or later some of our Young Professionals will be part of the MotoGP Team.”
Both enthused at the opportunity. “I think that the team is great,” stated 20-year-old Jaeschke. “For us it’s a new experience and it is cool to see how it all works, how the riders are, how the mechanics work together. We have worked on race bikes in the factory for a few weeks before we came here to start the learning process but this is something else, the privilege to see what goes on at the race track.”
Roth is already clear on what his dream future would involve. “The best case would be to never stop working at a race track. It is so interesting to see how much work there is behind the race. Time flies, there is so much going on, so much work and effort and so much fun.”
And yes the thought of working in the Red Bull KTM MotoGP team is there. “Well that certainly would be something to aim for,” agreed 22-year-old Norick with a huge grin.
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Or visit the official Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup website rookiescup.redbull.com/
