Last season, Max Enderlein won his third IDM Supersport—his first while racing for his own team. Defending the title is out of the question, and his teammate Jan-Ole Jähnig is no longer with the team, having moved up to the IDM Superbike class. But M32 Racing is still going strong. Team boss Max Enderlein now aims to lead Austrian rider Andreas Kofler to the Supersport.
Kofler, an 18-year-old from Attnang-Puchheim, will compete in his third Supersport in 2023. Last season, he was in the fight for podium spots behind Enderlein right up until the end, but ultimately came up short, finishing fourth overall. Enderlein says of him: “I know Andreas as a tough opponent. He has a solid foundation, the speed is there, and he already has a strong tactical understanding.” When asked why he himself is no longer competing, the 26-year-old champion from 2018, 2019, and 2022 explains: “After three titles, I’ve achieved everything I set out to do; I’ve reached my own financial—and consequently also sporting—limit, and I want to focus more on individual events and my professional career going forward. By deciding to continue with my team this year, I want to give something back to motorsports. I think that’s often lost these days. Helping young, hungry, ambitious, and talented riders like Andreas reach a new level has always appealed to me, and I’m very happy to support Andreas as his riding coach.”
The first discussions took place as early as the end of the 2022 season. The idea of a partnership continued to take shape. “Andreas is a calm and analytical guy,” says Enderlein of his new rider, adding, “He’s very determined and showed last year that he’s incredibly fast over a single lap.” The only thing is, he now needs to finish further up the pack. Enderlein doesn’t view the switch from the Kawasaki ZX-6R to the Yamaha YZF-R6 as a major change: “He’s familiar with the Yamaha from his time in Spain. What will be new for him is the transition to the new engines, but that’s also a new step for us as a team.”
Kofler is currently in Spain, where he is preparing for the season with private testing. He has already secured a training bike. The teenager is happy to have joined Enderlein: “There probably couldn’t be a better place for me to continue improving.”