All-new lineup for Team Suzuki Laux: Marco Fetz will be riding the Suzuki Superbike. Sarah Heide is switching bikes and classes.
Marco Fetz is now taking the reins in the IDM Superbike 1000 class. He is the 2018 Superstock 600 class champion. Last year, as a rookie in the IDM Supersport 600, he finished 13th overall. And now he’s moving straight up to the premier class. The deal with Suzuki Laux came about thanks to the long-standing friendship between Fetz’s mentor, Martin Schilling, and the team boss. Schilling will remain the front-wheel specialist on Fetz’s motorcycle for the upcoming season as well.
The 20-year-old from Kleinbreitenbronn, Bavaria, is thrilled by the opportunity to establish himself in the IDM Superbike series. Even without pressure. He’s been granted a year of apprenticeship. “I would have loved to have been training in Spain by the turn of the year, but I couldn’t leave because of my journeyman’s exam. I still have the practical exam coming up on January 20. Getting my qualifications is the priority,” says Fetz, the aspiring industrial mechanic, quite clearly. Testing will take place in March. Team boss Stefan Laux is already hard at work on the GSX-R 1000 to get it ready to race. In his eyes, rider Fetz has a lot of potential.
It is with a heavy heart that Sarah Heide bids farewell to the IDM Superbike 1000, but after many discussions and even more sleepless nights, she and the team manager decided to embark on a new project. The physical demands and strain of the IDM Superbike 1000 proved too much to handle in the long run. The goals they had set for themselves remained unfulfilled. Due to an injury, Heide had to end the past season early.
Now the Saxon rider is making her mark in the IDM Supersport 300—on a bike that better suits her riding style. Heide will be competing for points on a Yamaha R3. “Suzuki doesn’t have a model in this displacement class, so we had to switch manufacturers,” explains die-hard Suzuki fan Stefan Laux, referring to the “switch.” He bought a completely new motorcycle for Heide. In addition, everything from the smallest spare part to the tire warmers had to be purchased new. Heide, who has already completed her first laps in Cartagena, hopes to make a comeback in the small IDM class.
“It was difficult to stay motivated for the IDM Superbike 1000, partly because of my injuries. Despite training hard, I wasn’t able to make any progress on the track with the Suzuki GSX-R 1000,” she says, looking back on her time in the premier class, and adds: “The first tests with the Yamaha R3 in Spain went very well. But I feel a deep sense of sadness at turning my back on Suzuki after eleven years of excellent collaboration. Many friendships have developed here that I wouldn’t want to lose in the future.”