There was a lot of shovelling in Illmenau this year. The old track is a real legend in German downhill sport. Races have been held here regularly for 21 years. It's no wonder that a bit of work was done here again for the German championships, so the riders could at least enjoy a freshly prepared track during training.
There were no real extremes at the German Championships this year: But although the course is neither particularly long nor particularly difficult at just 1500 metres in length and 220 metres in altitude, a few cleverly placed features quickly separated the wheat from the chaff: Who has the strength and balance to speed through the new washboard? Who dares to tackle the gaps in the root fields? Who will find the best line in the forest sections? Nasty drops and nasty stone fields, on the other hand, have been omitted. Which didn't turn out to be a disadvantage in the end.
Prelude
After an initial familiarisation with the track during the track walk, the riders were able to train for a long time on a very dry but still grippy track. After the start gate, there was initially a lot of flow on the course of the old bobsleigh run, before the forest, interspersed with roots and a few jumps, became the dominant factor before the course led into the former landing of the ski jump, which leads to the finish.
There were no big surprises in training or in qualifying. Jasper Jauch and Sandra Rübesam set the fastest times and would therefore be the last to sprint out of the starting gate on race day. Everything as expected, really. Especially after Johannes Fischbach had to withdraw from the race. The Radon rider had broken his collarbone at the end of last year and, barely fit again, promptly fell on his shoulder again at the World Cup in Lenzerheide. The gruesome diagnosis after the fall: several torn muscles. However, he wants to be able to compete again by Mont-Sainte-Anne.
Surprises on race day
Show-down on the day of the race: The track, which had been quite bombed out by the many training runs, was very different to the smooth track that many riders were able to enjoy in training. Markus Bast won the Masters 2 class (over 40s). Dominik Dierich won the Masters class. Blake Ross from New Zealand won the U17 category, with the championship jersey going to the runner-up, but fastest German, Hannes Lehmann.
Finally, the elite women lined up at the starting gate. And while all eyes were on Sandra Rübesam, Raphaela Richter was able to make a powerful advance with a time of 2:15.625. The enduro specialist obviously liked the track. She proved once and for all that she is always a force to be reckoned with downhill - regardless of the bike and the route. Sandra Rübesam came under a lot of pressure as she was unable to beat the young Radon athlete's time in the end and only finished second. Third place went to Nina Hoffmann.
Max Hartenstern with top time
And then there were the juniors: many of the young talents swept round the course at a speed that would have suited the elite men's race. Max Hartenstern had already been tipped as the junior favourite in advance. When the clock stopped at less than two minutes at the finish, hardly anyone could believe it. Max Hartenstern needed just 1:57.928 minutes from start to finish. A real top time, and not just for the juniors.
The men had no choice but to give their all to avoid losing the DM title to a junior. And they didn't have to be asked twice. Huge finish jumps, full risk. Local Rick Balbierer gave it his all, but finished outside of two minutes, and Oscar Harnström was also unable to set the fastest time of the day. Benny Strasser also finished just behind the fast junior with a time of 1:58.093 minutes.
All that remained was Jasper Jauch, the winner of the qualification. The clock ticked mercilessly, and the light barriers never lie. Even Jasper Jauch was left behind, finishing almost a second behind Hartenstern. And so, although Benny Strasser won the elite race ahead of Jasper Jauch, the title of German Downhill Champion went to a junior: Max Hartenstern, who beat the sheer Incredible story from the previous year repeated. Which, strictly speaking, could have been expected after all.
All results of the weekend can be found here Link.
Adrian Kaether
Editor
