“Spider” Martin Vugrinec has clear goals. This year, he finally wants to win the IDM Supersport 600 title. With a new title sponsor behind him, the 21-year-old Yamaha rider from the ferQuest Unior Racing Team is already training in Spain.
It really bothered him that he didn’t win the Supersport title in 2020. “Yes, that really annoyed me,” recalls the Croatian, who lives in Bochum. “Bad luck and misfortune both played a part, but I have only myself to blame for the crashes. Theoretically, I would have deserved the title, but it didn’t turn out that way.” Vugrinec was the only rider in his class to secure three wins across the eight races of the season. On the other hand, there were two races from which he failed to score any points. He ultimately lost the title battle due to his crash in the first race of the Hockenheim finale.
As a result, Vugrinec heads into the upcoming season as the 2020 runner-up. The year before, he had finished third overall. Now, the only thing missing is the title. As of today, the Croatian, who speaks German fluently, is training in Calafat, Spain. “We’ll stay here for four days, then head to Aragón, later to Rijeka, and finally to the Pannoniaring,” Vugrinec explains. He estimates he’ll be back in Bochum in about a month and a half, depending on how the quarantine regulations shape up by then.
The family has now had firsthand experience with the coronavirus. In September, it struck Martin and his father, Ivica, all at once. While the younger man spent three days feeling lethargic and out of sorts, his father had a much harder time dealing with it.
The dream of “Spider” Martin—as he’s known among colleagues because of the spider-themed graphics on his motorcycle and helmet—extends beyond simply winning the IDM Supersport 600 title; it goes one step further. “I want to compete in the World Championship.” And Vugrinec makes it very clear: “I don’t race just to participate, but to win.” He had applied for a wildcard for the Supersport World Championship round in Assen. But the original date was postponed and now coincides, of all things, with the IDM weekend at the Schleizer Dreieck.
First, however, Vugrinec wants to see if he’s still as fast on the IDM Yamaha as he was last year—or even faster. He brought his practice bike with him to Spain. His 2020 YZF-R6 race bikes stayed at home and are being spared. Vugrinec, who lives in Germany because there isn’t enough funding or interest in motorsports in Croatia, isn’t taking any risks.