Euro Moto News: Riot, celebrity coach and ready for the island

A young rider enlists the help of a rider with World Championship experience. Two former riders are trying their luck in the British Championship, and one is causing a stir at the Schleizer Dreieck.

Internationally experienced reinforcement for Thias Wenzel

“We are delighted to announce another important step in Thias Wenzel’s sporting development,” explains Team NSA, which supports the young German rider in the Moto4 Northern Cup. Former Grand Prix rider and current junior coach Alberto Moncayo will in future be supporting Wenzel as his personal riding coach, taking on the role previously held by Stefan Bradl during Wenzel’s early days. Moncayo can look back on a successful career in international motorbike racing. The Spaniard was national champion in the 125 cm³ class, competed in the Motorcycle World Championship in the 125 cm³, Moto3 and Moto2 classes, and secured two Grand Prix podium finishes. “Alberto has something,” says the team, “that is particularly valuable for the development of a young rider: his own experience at the highest international level, a sound technical understanding and daily work with young athletes.” Riding technique, body posture, line choice, braking points and their targeted application on the track have been the focus of the coaching so far. For Thias Wenzel, this long-term collaboration is set to be a key building block for his further development in international motorbike racing – particularly with a view to his next steps in the European Championship.

Thias Wenzel mit neuem Coach

Foto: Team NSA

Penalised for bad behaviour

A week before the Euro Moto at Oschersleben, Freddie Heinrich – who usually competes in the Supersport class – took part in the Superbike class at the German TT on the Schleizer Dreieck, racing against former world champion Jörg Teuchert, amongst others. In the second race, Heinrich was removed from the results and disqualified. “He ran Norick Tschauder over,” the organiser explained when asked. “Whilst being rescued, he shouted at the marshals and then came out of the gravel trap at full throttle, so that the stones flying out from behind him hit several marshals and Tschauder, and even injured one marshal.”

International outing in Great Britain

Last weekend, the British Championship continued at Brands Hatch. On the starting grid for the Superstock class was Dutch rider Ricardo Brink, who had already enjoyed success in the IDM Superbike and had won every race in the Pro Superstock Cup last year. At Brands Hatch, he finished 15th and 11th. “We made huge progress over the course of the weekend,” he said, “and took home a decent haul of points. We worked incredibly hard and were richly rewarded for it. The Honda is suiting us better and better, and we’ve thoroughly enjoyed the event here in England. What a circuit and what a crowd. A big thank you to the lads, David DM and Jarie Scheepstra – well done.”

Ricardo Brink in Brands Hatch

Foto: Brink

In the BSB Superbike class, four-time IDM Superbike champion Ilya Mikhalchik is on the attack. At Brands Hatch, however, the Ukrainian had a tough weekend, finishing 13th, 14th and 13th. “Practice went quite well,” he explained, “but the races weren’t good enough. We showed some decent pace in practice, but there are still a few areas where we need to improve to get more out of the bike over the race distance. The main aim was to stay on the bike and finish all three races, but of course I’d hoped for a more competitive weekend. We’ll keep working on improving the overall package and taking the next steps.”