What has united two experienced racers and business owners—Stefan Schmidt (Motorrad Center Altendiez) and Frank Hoffmann (Wunderlich)—for more than 25 years is their enthusiasm for motorcycles and their passion for the racetrack.
And both are giving young riders a chance. Bastian Ubl will compete for Team MCA Racing in the IDM Supersport class in 2022. His teammate in the class is Julius Caesar Rörig, the son of Stefan Schmidt. Both will ride Yamaha R6s. Rocco Sessler is set to be developed as a young talent in a junior cup.
Twenty-year-old Bastian Ubl completed his first Supersport 600 season in 2021 and scored two championship points. He earned both at the season finale in Hockenheim—his home track. In 2022, his adjustment period in the class is over. “Stefan Schmidt asked me if I was interested, and I said yes,” While Rörig and Schmidt are already heading to Spain this coming weekend for training, Ubl won’t join them until December 25 in Almería, where he’ll meet other crew members such as Frank Hofmann, the supporting managing director of Wunderlich, who was once his riding coach.
Bastian Ubl has already racked up quite a few kilometers on his pit bike. And he works out at least three days a week, focusing on fitness and strength training. He is determined to compete in the City Triathlon in Frankfurt in August 2022. He plans to tackle the Olympic distance: a 1.5 km swim, a 45 km bike ride, and a 10 km run. The event fits perfectly into the gap in the IDM calendar between the races at the Schleizer Dreieck and in Assen.
Supersport rookie Julius Caesar Rörig is 15 years old. He is making the move to the IDM after two years in the Northern Talent Cup. The Cup, which is held alongside the Superbike World Championship, MotoGP, and the IDM, has already given him plenty of experience of international racing, and he has clearly defined his future goals. However, Rörig will not be on the starting grid at the start of the season. For safety reasons, the minimum age for participants is being raised from 15 to 16. The exact date on which the minimum age is reached applies. Only then is racing permitted. Julius celebrates his 16th birthday on June 10, 2022. The races at the Lausitzring and in Oschersleben will therefore still take place without him.
“We’ll also be competing in a few more endurance races with MCA Racing in a BMW,” says Stefan Schmidt, before adding—after a brief pause—: “Above all, I’d like to win one more race with my son before I retire from racing.”