Fathers and sons in motorcycle racing

Posted on by admin

Table of contents

Fathers and sons in motorcycle racing
2snap

Fathers and sons in motorcycle racing

Fathers and sons in motorcycle racing

Fathers and sons in motorcycle racing

Fathers and sons in motorcycle racing

13th pictures

Fathers and sons in motorcycle racing
2snap

1/13
Peter Ottl already supported his son Philipp in the Red Bull Rookies Cup.

Fathers and sons in motorcycle racing
2snap

2/13
In 2016, Philipp Ottl experienced his best Moto3 World Championship year in his father’s team: twelfth place.

Fathers and sons in motorcycle racing
2snap

3/13
In 2017 the youngster would like to improve further.

Fathers and sons in motorcycle racing
2snap

4/13
The 25-year-old Axel Pons has emancipated himself and signed with the AGR team for the 2016 season.

Fathers and sons in motorcycle racing
2snap

5/13
Father Sito (seen in the previous picture) thinks this is an important step that 21-year-old Edgar still has to take. Edgar drove his first full World Championship season for his famous father’s team.

Fathers and sons in motorcycle racing
2snap

6/13
Axel, the older of the two Pons sons, is considered to be a very risk-taking Moto2 rider.

Fathers and sons in motorcycle racing
2snap

7/13
Edgar Pons completed his first Moto2 World Championship season in 2016.

Fathers and sons in motorcycle racing
2snap

8/13
Wayne Gardner became the 500 cc world champion in 1987 as a Honda factory driver.

Fathers and sons in motorcycle racing
2snap

9/13
Son Remy (# 87) drove his first full Moto3 GP season on Mahindra in 2015, switched to the Moto2 World Championship during the 2016 season after an interlude in the Moto2 European Championship and scored his first World Championship points there.

Fathers and sons in motorcycle racing
2snap

10/13
Kenny Roberts Jr. and King Kenny are the only father-son pair to have both become MotoGP World Champions.

Fathers and sons in motorcycle racing
2snap

11/13
Kenny jr. and brother Kurtis drove a number of races together in the father’s team in 2007. Kurtis was World Cup 19. and disappeared from the GP scene.

Fathers and sons in motorcycle racing
2snap

12/13
Kenny Roberts Jr. (# 10) and Kurtis Roberts: on the road on the KR 212 V in 2007.

Fathers and sons in motorcycle racing
2snap

13/13
Helmut Bradl on his World Cup 250cc from 1991 and Stefan Bradl on the MotoGP Honda of the LCR team at the Sachsenring 2015: The ratio is right.

Sports & scene

Motorsport

Fathers and sons in motorcycle racing

Fathers and sons in motorcycle racing
Roberts, Bradl, Ottl & Co.

Good relationships can be really helpful in building a career in GP racing. This is especially true for father-son relationships, in which the senior was a successful racing driver and the junior wants to be just that.

Friedemann Kirn

05/01/2017

The Ottl family moves from one racetrack to another as a small, ideal world. Father Peter, five-time Grand Prix winner, takes care of the organization of the Moto3 team. During the races, he sits at the computer and analyzes the data from the data recording. Son Philipp is fighting his way closer to the top of the World Cup, and when both of them put their heads together after training with technician Stefan Kirsch, Peter Ottl is more reluctant. It’s not been a long time that the experienced dad speaks and the offspring only listens, here professionals meet at eye level. “I only slip into the father role when he says: ‘Dad, we have to talk to each other.‘ When he comes and needs support. Then I am challenged, then it has to be right and careful what I say, ”smiles the 51-year-old senior. “Philipp has a great environment, and if everything works, I don’t need to get involved.”

Buy complete article

Fathers and sons in motorcycle racing

Fathers and sons in motorcycle racing
Roberts, Bradl, Ottl & Co.

6 pages) as PDF

€ 2.00

Buy now

Crisis as a turning point

The Ottls have been traveling together for many years. A small crisis only occurred at the end of 2014 when Philipp fledged and urged to be allowed to drive to Italy for motocross training alone. “He was 18 years old and I had to let go. That wasn’t easy and it took me a while. You help him for ten years and explain how everything works. And now suddenly you have to have the confidence that he knows and can do it himself, ”remembers Peter Ottl. It was a turning point at which Philipp Ottl began to take responsibility for himself. As soon as he had enjoyed the new freedom for a few months, there was of course a new alliance, the two were again one heart and one soul – with the difference that it was now Philipp who organized the trips to the south together. Papa Ottl was spared the fears that other parents experience with their racing children. “You saw early on that Philipp went to work very carefully. He has a clean driving style and very rarely crashes. I trust him, ”says Peter Ottl.

Helmut Bradl and Stefan Bradl

Helmut Bradl, the two-time 250cc runner-up world champion, felt a lot more uncomfortable when his son Stefan started talking about racing. “I did not want that. I hurt myself a couple of times but got away with it without permanent damage. But even in my time there were a few fatal accidents, and now again. It is true that this is racing where there is planing, chips fall. But when your own child accelerates, you have a different feeling, ”explains the 55-year-old. “If you sit on it yourself, you have the levers in your own hands. From outside you can only watch and hope that he knows what he is doing. “

Never too persuaded to drive

That’s why Helmut Bradl never tried to persuade little Stefan to drive. Not even when he turned his back on the authoritarian-led talent shed of the Spaniard Alberto Puig in 2007 after a few weeks and thus ignored the chance of a place on the official Repsol 250 team. Only when the German Kiefer team had the chance to start over with money from Grizzly Gas and Stefan Bradl himself was on fire again did his father help again.

“I am no longer responsible”

However, his heart only got lighter when his son was of legal age. “I told myself: Now he’s 18, I’m no longer responsible,” smiles Helmut Bradl. He experienced the rapid rise of his son up close and did not leave his side when his career path has recently become rockier again. “You can build him up mentally if he has setbacks, if nothing works for him or if he falls. You can give him new courage, ”says Helmut Bradl, explaining the father’s duties. Of course, Helmut Bradl was also in the first tests for Stefan’s new career in the Superbike World Championship and hopes that his son will have podium opportunities there and thus more fun racing again.

Sito Pons, Axel Pons and Edgar Pons

But Stefan Bradl has already achieved more than his father in this sport with the Moto2 World Championship title and promotion to the premier class. It is different with Axel and Edgar Pons, the sons of the two-time 250 cm³ champion Sito Pons. The name Pons in Spain’s motorsport roughly corresponds to what the name Beckenbauer means for German football. To follow in the footsteps of such a famous father is a difficult task. “When your son enters your world to work and develop there, that’s nice on the one hand. But you also know the pitfalls, because you stumbled upon them yourself. It is easy to fail and difficult to triumph, ”explains Sito Pons. “I have a different perspective than other fathers in the paddock who were not drivers themselves.

First of all, it has always been important to me that my sons do what they want with their lives. I never put them under pressure to race – on the contrary, I tried to talk them out of it. ”As a father, being a good advisor is a tricky task, adds Pons. “The distance between a normal manager and his driver is missing. You talk to a son as if you are talking to yourself. You have to keep your distance. That’s difficult. ”Axel Pons, the older of the two sons, also studied economics. Sito Pons insisted on a degree, which is why Axel could not fully concentrate on his racing career. At least he managed to jump into another Moto2 team. “That was of particular value, now he was a professional like others, not just Mr Pons’ son. He understood that he had to emancipate himself. ”Edgar Pons, the younger son, is still part of his father’s team. “But I would like it with him too if he went to a different team. It is an important step for them to prove their skills elsewhere as well. “

Kenny Roberts and Kenny Roberts Jr..

Whether the two will ever succeed in completely following in their father’s footsteps is of course in the stars. Kenny Roberts and Kenny Roberts Jr. hit the bull’s eye in this regard. After the father had won the half-liter World Cup three times in a row at the end of the 1970s, it was the son’s turn in 2000, whereupon the two were celebrated as the first and so far only father-son duo worldwide with titles in the premier class.

The only father-son duo with titles in the premier class

Kenny jr. had already practiced dirt track driving when he was three cheeses with people like Wayne Rainey and Eddie Lawson on his father’s ranch in the Californian hinterland, grew naturally into the heyday of American motorcycling, and it was just as natural that he would develop his own career crown and become King Kenny Jr. would be. It was a perfect American dream that was only shaken in 2016 when brother Kurtis Roberts, less successful as a racing driver, turned out to be the black sheep of the family. In a dispute on the said ranch, Kurtis was violent against his own father and ended up in court.

Wayne Gardner and Remy Gardner

Things are more harmonious between Wayne Gardner and his son Remy. “I’ve lived a wild, beautiful, and overall unbelievable life,” explains the half-liter world champion from 1987. “The fact that I’m traveling to the racetracks again with Remy is another highlight, as if a circle has come full circle,” he says about his 18-year-old son, who entered the Moto3 World Championship three years ago and is now on the verge of breakthrough in the Moto2 class with a Kalex. The hurried father Gardner showed the commitment fathers sometimes show for their sons at the Japanese Grand Prix this year: After a harmless collision with another car at the entrance to the racetrack, there was an equally harmless jostling between the two drivers. Wayne Gardner was arrested on the spot for gently nudging his Japanese opponent and jailed hours before Remy’s race. The police didn’t let him go again until twelve days later. Wayne Gardner: “It was the horror!”

Interview with Moto3 rider Philipp Ottl

Philipp Ottl is the only German Moto3 World Championship driver. For four years the son of the former GP winner Peter Ottl has been looking for a connection to the top of the world. With KTM factory equipment, he finished twelfth in 2016. He knows: it has to get better. And he has a plan. We talked to Ottl after the end of the 2016 season.

MOTORCYCLE: You have had your best overall Moto3 season. What were the highlights?

Philipp Ottl: It was a good experience, like the pole position in Austin. And the two fourth places in Motegi and Austin. The races in Spielberg and Aragón were also good. But what I was missing was a real top result. There were also two races where my helmet visor hit me: in Brno and at the Sachsenring. Such things shouldn’t have happened.

MOTORCYCLE: The second diagnosis after your involuntary fall in Malaysia was probably a moment of happiness. At first there was talk of a broken scaphoid bone, but then the bone turned out to be undamaged …

Philipp Ottl: That was quite a relief. After the fall, my wrist was swollen, red and blue, and I couldn’t move it wisely. At the Medical Center in Sepang they took an X-ray and said: “The scaphoid bone is broken.” Then we flew home and went to the Salzburg accident hospital to ask about an operation date. The doctors said, “Haven’t you eaten anything anyway? We’ll do another computed tomography, and then we’ll start right away. ”But the CT raised doubts. The doctors said: “Yes, you could imagine that you can see something.” A magnetic resonance tomography three days later finally revealed that the scaphoid bone has nothing. That made me happy.

MOTORCYCLE: Especially since you had injured yourself a few months earlier at Le Mans …

Philipp Ottl: A fracture of the ulna and radius, which was fixed with ten screws and a plate. Before the summer break I couldn’t show that I was fast, maybe except for Assen, where I did well, but in the end only came in eleventh again, 1.5 seconds behind the first. For the second half of the season, I knew that I had to get even faster. In the first race after the summer break in Zeltweg, we did well. In Brno I was eighth in training, with no slipstream. That doesn’t sound like a lot, but it was a lot to me. The year before I tried it alone and was 23.

MOTORCYCLE: You work a lot on yourself and before training you have your helmet on earlier than anyone to concentrate.

Philipp Ottl: 2014 was a pretty bad year, and for 2015 I teamed up with a sports psychologist. Together we have developed a good program that is constantly evolving. To me it feels like I’ve only really been racing since 2015 because I’ve been clear about why I’m going fast or slow and because I’ve been able to help myself with certain things since then.

MOTORCYCLE: You criticize yourself, but you never criticize those around you. It is remarkable.

Philipp Ottl: I can’t question the bike if the winners ride it too. I also have full confidence in my chief technician, Stefan Kirsch. We have grown together even more intensively and have a special bond. And my dad is the reason I ride a motorcycle. You can’t say: you papa, leave it alone, I’ll look for someone else.

MOTORCYCLE: How would you describe your relationship with your father? As a friendship on an equal footing or as a son-father relationship?

Philipp Ottl: Both, although I don’t see the father-son relationship as a problem.

MOTORCYCLE: Was it a tricky phase when you wanted to stand on your own two feet and your father had to learn to hold on to the reins longer?

Philipp Ottl: That was a short process, it took maybe six months and it drove a wedge between us at the beginning. There was already some friction until both sides realized that it actually works quite well when I do my things on my own. Now he sees: my son has had his experiences, now he wants me to be there again.

MOTORCYCLE: Does he try to explain a lot to you about racing and daily life?

Philipp Ottl: No. I have my trainer for my training and my sports psychologist for psychology. Occasionally he asks a few things, and I tell him them too. There is trust because it works quite well.

MOTORCYCLE: And along the way?

Philipp Ottl: He delves into the data, and when I ask him how things are there and there, he knows right away. Sometimes I need it, sometimes I don’t. He doesn’t force anything on me unless it’s absolutely necessary.

MOTORCYCLE: Let’s talk about colleagues. What do you notice when you race against Brad Binder?

Philipp Ottl: He’s just consistently fast. Compared to the others, he looks more grown up. He’s very strong, fast, consistent, always on hand, without mistakes.

MOTORCYCLE: Which driver do you want to show it to??

Philipp Ottl: Each! The one in front of you is next, if you can overtake him, you will overtake. No matter who it is.

MOTORCYCLE: You can see that you can drive just as hard as the Spaniards in your chases to catch up. But what happens to you at the start?

Philipp Ottl: Getting started is not always easy. Now and then I do it well, now and then not so well. I don’t have the perfect recipe for that yet. It’s good for me if I can hold onto my place. It also depends on where I am. If I’m far ahead, like in Aragón, then it fits, then I’m right in the rhythm. When I’m far back, I still find it a little difficult every now and then.

MOTORCYCLE: Can you say what you dream of?

Philipp Ottl: The dream is to move up and then move up again and crown each class with a world championship title. That is the optimal plan. If you can then also choose your motorcycle, that’s sheer luxury. For example, if KTM thinks that they should go to WP or KTM Moto2 and then go to MotoGP, that is not an offer that I would reject.

MOTORCYCLE: What is missing for the great success next year? Just a little bit of luck?

Philipp Ottl: We want to push and develop our plan in winter. In every training session I wrote down what happened, I will read it through and see: It happened to me more often and I have to pay attention to it. You can’t get much more in terms of fitness, since all the drivers are at a brutally high level. Everyone has a strong bike and everyone has a good team. But I’ve found something I can do to get even faster and it’s really fun to see how it affects my driving. An example that can be used in every situation in life: Before doing anything, you have to make sure that the starting point is right, then you can approach the matter in the best possible way. For example, I have to make sure that the leather suit doesn’t pinch before driving out. That’s a small part, but when you do it on the motorcycle, you’re already distracted. Does the glove fit, is my hair in the right place? You can also do this if you use the fitness equipment in winter. You set your weight, your sitting position and the levers carefully. You practiced a bit before the training even started.

(Note: the interview was already conducted in winter 2016)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *