The final checkered flag has fallen for Dennis Lippert. The 23-year-old was involved in a serious accident on June 8, 2019, during the first round of the IDM Supersport 600 at Oschersleben and died three days later. Despite immediate first aid and further treatment at Magdeburg University Hospital, the doctors were unable to save his life.
Racing was a great passion for Dennis Lippert. Born on April 1, 1996, in Brunnthal near Munich, the Yamaha rider was just beginning to make his mark in the IDM and, by extension, in international racing. He was a rising star who didn’t take part in his first race training session until 2014. Just two years later, he had already won the Hafeneger Cup. This was followed by his promotion to the Yamaha R6 Dunlop Cup. After that series was discontinued, Lippert immediately moved up to the IDM Supersport 600. It all happened at breakneck speed. As a rookie, he wanted to reach the podium and finish in the top 7 of the overall standings. The result: he achieved it all. Only three riders from the top ten scored points in every race in 2018. The student from the Bavarian village nestled against the mountains was one of them. To become even better, he purchased a new motorcycle for 2019 and found a new partner in Team Ravenol Endurance Motorsport.
Dennis Lippert left nothing to chance. He worked hard to achieve success. He was one of the few drivers who made their presence known even before the season began and shared the latest developments. He was young, yet he had long since realized that public relations would also be an important part of his career. His unwavering pursuit of success in what he considered the most beautiful side issue in the world was what defined him.
The funeral service will be held on Friday, June 28, 2019, at 2:00 p.m. at Kreuz-Christi-Kirche (Martin-Luther-Platz 1, 85635 Höhenkirchen-Siegertsbrunn). Dennis will then be laid to rest at the Waldfriedhof Höhenkirchen.
Marco Lippert has provided us with the open letters he wrote to his brother.
Here are a few excerpts.
“Dear Dennis, in your 23 years, you achieved so much that some people never manage to do in their entire lives. With your consistently positive outlook, you changed the way many people see the world. You gave your life doing what you loved and celebrated above all else…. For 21 years, you were everything to me.
I always looked up to you; you were my idol…. Just as I used to pull you around in the Bobby Car back then, you’ve pulled me through my whole life. You always kept an eye on me because you were afraid something might happen to me. You’ll continue to do so for the rest of my life—I’m absolutely convinced of that.” (Marco Lippert, brother)
“Your love of life, your friends along the track, and your teammates were just as important to you as your results… whatever you set out to do, you always gave it 100%; it was only with your studies that I had to give you a little push every now and then… You were a perfectionist when it came to your bike, yourself, and the crew. Everyone on the team always provided you with the best possible equipment for us. Even when it didn’t fit, you never complained, but instead tried to make the best of it.” (Olaf Kneuper, Team Manager)
“We met in Cartagena because we shared the same hobby. I was worried about you because you’d broken your arm. I sat with you until three in the morning, talking to you. The racetrack brought us together, and now it’s taken you away from me again…. Never in my life have I met anyone as loving and helpful as you. You were my dream guy, except for your little messiness. Your socks never made it home in pairs from the racetrack—but that was just you, and that’s exactly what I’ll miss… I’m so grateful to you for always standing by me. I’ve unfortunately been sick a lot, but you always took such touching care of me…You told us that 2019 was your year. Your thoughts were always on the IDM. You were sometimes a bit of a couch potato, but as soon as I mentioned the IDM—which is why you did it—you were right there. You were just so determined when it came to that.” (Selina Kocinski, girlfriend)
“We’d only known each other for about three years. I can still remember very clearly when a good friend told me he’d met a young guy in the Hafeneger Cup who was supposed to be really fast. He told me back then that he was the new German Marquez and that I’d better brace myself for what was to come… Dennis told me about the adventurous way he’d found his way into the IDM paddock. His videos of rides on the Aprilia 125cc, riding with the bike’s handlebars scraping the ground on the country roads around Munich with his friends, were unbelievable to me. I just thought to myself, what kind of crazy guy is this? But in the same breath, he also said that it had simply become too dangerous for him, so he bought an MV Agusta 675cc for the racetrack.... Dennis loved spending time with his friends, and you could feel it. He loved racing, and he was well on his way to making a really big name for himself.” (Max Enderlein, race car driver)