Marcel Schrötter (BMW): “I want to win races on my own merits”

During the eventful final Euro Moto weekend at Oschersleben, Marcel Schrötter of Team GERT56 took home 26 points. After the second race, the team management decided to lodge a protest against fellow rider Florian Alt and Team HRP. Alt was subsequently disqualified for rebuilding his Honda in a manner that did not comply with the regulations, whilst Schrötter was awarded the points for third place. The controversy caused quite a stir, particularly on social media.

The seasoned professional from Upper Bavaria would prefer not to dwell on the matter at all, but is instead focusing on taking on his rivals on the racetrack. The next round of the national Superbike Championship took teams and riders to Assen in the north of the Netherlands, where the BMW rider finds himself on very familiar ground and, despite his knee injury, is determined to have a say in the battle for victory.

Knee’s holding up reasonably well

Schröter’s injured knee, with various torn ligaments, had held up quite well at Oschersleben. “My knee’s fine,” he assured ahead of practice at Assen. “However, the progress has been slower than before Oschersleben, as the physical demands there and a number of commitments afterwards didn’t allow me to continue my rehabilitation in the same way as I had in the weeks leading up to Oschersleben. Nevertheless, I don’t see any problems for Assen and I’m confident that things will go better. So I don’t think it should be a weak point. I’ll just try to feel as though I’m 100 per cent fit.”

“The situation is what it is, and I’ll make the best of it,” is Schrötter’s motto. “Otherwise, I’m really looking forward to Assen, where I know the circuit very well from many Grand Prix races and several Supersport weekends. So I’m going into the weekend under different circumstances to those at Oschersleben. In that sense, it should be a bit easier, though that doesn’t mean it’ll be any easier overall for me or the team. By that I mean the results, because as we know, the competition is very strong. The top six are really at a very high level, so it’s easy to end up behind them.”

Below-the-belt comments

“Unfortunately, there were numerous discussions and some rather unpleasant comments on various social media platforms following the race at Oschersleben,” adds Schrötter. “Some of them really went below the belt. I’d like to emphasise that I’m an athlete and I want fair races; that we racing drivers compete against each other on the track and battle it out using the means at our disposal. It’s very important to me to stress that. But rules are rules. Nevertheless, everyone can decide for themselves what is fair and what is unfair. I don’t wish to comment further on this matter, except to note that in this case it has nothing to do with me.”

Topic of the week

Topic of the week: Aprilia comeback? The truth is: Aprilia never went away!

Four weeks ago, Aprilia headed into the summer break from Germany with a badly injured Marco Bezzecchi. The response came from the heart of British motor racing: ‘Together we are strong!’

Thomas Kuttruf

Read more

But rules are rules.

Marcel Schrötter

“As I said,” he emphasises. “I want to achieve my results on the track. On the other hand, the reports about Ducati are just as unwelcome, even though this measure didn’t particularly surprise me.” The Ducati riders, led by championship leader Lukas Tulovic, must restrict their engines by 500 revolutions, which is causing technical problems in terms of feasibility. “After all,” says Schrötter, “everyone knew that restrictions would be imposed after the fourth race if they continued to dominate. Nevertheless, I hope for Lukas and his team that they’ll be able to line up at Assen. Because that’s certainly not how we want to beat them. I’d like to emphasise that in particular. Still, we have to do our job this weekend. That’s what we’re here for, and as always, we’ll give our best to win races on our own merits.”

Euro Moto Superbike standings after eight of 14 races