“Spider”—Martin Vugrinec—has completed his first test sessions in Spain. The fact that his future rival, Patrick Hobelsberger, later set the fastest time among the IDM Supersport 600 riders present at Aragón doesn’t bother the 2020 runner-up.
Vugrinec is the pragmatic type. “Putting in a fast lap isn’t my strong suit. The race is what counts,” says the 21-year-old Yamaha R6-F rider from the ferQuest Unior Racing Team. By now, the Croatian is prepared for anything. “In Calafat, for example, it rained, which I don’t like at all. Still, I was out on the track all day and the result was very productive. Above all, I didn’t crash once. I now see the wet-weather practice as a real bonus in the test program.”
Vugrinec says he’s not quite in top form yet, but he’s already at 90 percent, “and the rest won’t be a problem either.” He’s really eager to win the IDM title. As of today, “Spider” Martin has been training in Croatia. He has three days of track time scheduled at the Rijeka circuit. After that, he’ll head home to his family, who live 200 kilometers away.
He’s also stopped by his grandmother’s house. She couldn’t resist baking a birthday cake, even though none of her visitors were actually celebrating a birthday at the moment. “Since we’re almost never home for our birthdays, we just have the cake when we happen to be there,” explains grandson Martin. It won’t be long before there’s cause to celebrate, though. Father Ivica turns 50 this coming Saturday, Martin turns 22 on March 24, and brother Ivan follows on April 20.
By then, Martin Vugrinec will have completed three more days of training in Rijeka and at the Pannoniaring.