Max Enderlein successfully defended his title in the IDM Supersport 600 class in 2019. The Saxon rider was unbeatable in six races. He even has his own entry in the online encyclopedia Wikipedia. He was scheduled to compete in the Supersport World Championship in 2020. But now the 23-year-old “Saxon Flash” is selling his Pirelli slicks online. What happened, and what’s next for the Dresden resident?
Max Enderlein is on his way home from a motocross and supermoto track in Thuringia when we call him. He spent the weekend tearing up the track with Julian Puffe, Toni Finsterbusch, and Jan-Ole Jähnig. It’s been possible to ride there again for the past three weeks, and the IDM guys jumped at the chance.
Normally, Enderlein would have been in Supersport World Championship mode right now. But the pandemic has changed everything. “There’s nothing you can do about it, but ultimately it’s affected everyone,” he says, reflecting on the situation. For now, things aren’t moving forward for him with the Freudenberg-SMC WorldSSP Academy team in the Supersport World Championship. “I’ll probably need slick tires for IDM races instead,” he says, looking ahead to the near future. According to Enderlein, the conditions for three or even four World Championship races would have been ideal for 2020: “I had a really good package at the start.” Whether that can be realized next year remains to be seen. “It doesn’t have much to do with what I want, but rather with what’s possible. You have to consider the financial situation. A lot has changed economically over the last two months, and finding sponsors is becoming even more difficult. There isn’t a plan for 2021 yet. Everything is uncertain, including whether there will be major events.”
However, the IDM is giving Yamaha R6 rider Enderlein a chance and says, “I do think there will be some action in 2020 and that races will be held. That’s more likely to happen than at the World Championship level.”