From rookie to racer, part 5

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From rookie to racer, part 5
Jahn

Sports & scene

Motorsport

From rookie to racer, part 5

From rookie to racer, part 5
Landing approach

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Schwantz started like this, Doohan as a toddler as well, and the MotoGP elite keep fit with it: Motocross. So also the rookie; out of the leather, in the dirt! Motocross god Didi Lacher shows how it’s done.

Uwe Seitz

05/16/2008

“Finger off the clutch, elbows out, body full of tension!” Former World Cup driver Didi Lacher does not give up. Breather? Forget it! Motocross is hard work. That was suddenly clear to me on this sunny, but ice-cold morning on the Frankenthal MX track. The first exercise was about sitting on the box in a species-appropriate manner – that was a huge change. Instead of dropping your arms down and deep, your elbows now slide far out and your upper body over the handlebars.

“The arms and shoulders are your body’s own suspension against impacts. If you let your arms hang down, you will quickly find yourself in the dirt”, Lacher explains the technology. I try, soon I have to fight. There is so much I should pay attention to: braking on loose surfaces, while standing, with thick boots in which you don’t feel anything. Turn in with your outer elbow high up, then accelerate with your butt a little further back on the bench (but of course keep your elbows up), and get out of the saddle again … phew! We are just driving in circles on flat terrain.


From rookie to racer, part 5


Jahn

Objective and unyielding during training, then a hilarious buddy: www.didi-lacher.com.

“It looks pretty good sitting down, but standing up sucks!” Didi is tough at first, then just fair: “But I imagined it would be worse”, he calms me down a bit. The MX 500 GP race winner patiently explains to me again and again what I’m doing wrong, until Lacher finally waves me over and says: “Well, now let’s go jump.” I briefly consider whether he really thinks I can do that or just wants to get off work quickly – if I crash-land now, he can go home.

Didi is obviously serious, shows me the secrets of motorcycle flying, pats me on the shoulder and grins broadly. Even though I was given strict instructions, at the table (a crosser never says “hill” or “Pile of dirt”) just not to turn off the gas, I must have done it instinctively: After the tiny hop, I sail, front wheel ahead, towards my home planet.


From rookie to racer, part 5


Jahn

I need a few tries before the bright blue of the February sky gets closer and closer.

“Dangerous”, my coach warns, “and twice as much with such a slack body tension.” I need a few tries before the bright blue of the February sky gets closer and closer. After the drift exercises, the following applies: “Now let’s do a few laps. Just drive after me. Do not look in front of the front wheel, do not look at holes or stones on the track, otherwise you will be on it. And what is the most important?” – “Elbows out”, I got it.

After five laps on the 1500 meter slope, my battery is completely empty. The sweat runs in streams, my forearms are dragging, my thighs are burning, and while kicking the 250 kawa I hit my ankle on the footrest. But honestly folks, the whole thing is just awesome. Again and again we drive a few laps, I jump over the big tables with Didi in a double pack, the master raises his thumb next to me encouragingly, it goes higher and higher, faster around corners, drifting out onto the straights.

Well, and that’s it then. Next up is the grand finale. See you on March 22nd in Hockenheim for the 1000 km. Keep your fingers crossed!

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