After a year of “hard work at school,” Lucy Michel is back in the IDM circuit. As she did in 2020 and 2021, the 18-year-old will be racing for Team TSL Racing, led by team manager Stefan Laux. With a new bike, she’s ready to hit the gas again at all seven race weekends.
The new training program is quite a challenge
With a heavy heart, Lucy Michel had to unexpectedly give up her spot in the IDM last year and instead return to school to train as a medical technologist in radiology. It’s a tough job in the truest sense of the word, as Lucy not only has to be well-versed in the human skeleton and anatomy. She’s also learning everything about X-ray diagnostics, radiation physics and therapy, as well as nuclear medicine. “I’ve always been interested in the human body and bones, just as much as in technology. That’s why I chose this profession,” explains Michel, who also enjoys doing small repair jobs on her motorcycle herself. However, the scope of the training is quite broad, which is why full focus was required from the very beginning. “I couldn’t afford any absences in the first year, which made it impossible to balance racing and school,” she explains regarding her withdrawal last year. She has now completed the first part of her apprenticeship. Now she’s moving on to the practical training phase, which fortunately also gives her time for racing again.
A selfie as a keepsake
When the girl from Elterlein, Saxony, was eight years old, she got her first taste of motorcycling during a trial ride. She took to the sport right away, and from then on, there was no stopping her. A few years later, at the age of eleven, she even met MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi at the Sachsenring. A selfie on her Instagram account She still remembers that moment today. However, the nine-time world champion didn’t offer any tips. “That didn’t matter; I was still far too young for that,” the 18-year-old recalls. To get the most out of her favorite tracks, such as Schleiz or Most, she prefers to rely on her own initiative instead: “If I need help, I ask other riders for it and ask specific questions,” Michel says confidently. She says this helps her improve her performance as quickly as possible and get a good feel for the races.
Techno bass and preparations
Before every race, Lucy Michel’s setup is one thing above all else: loud and bass-heavy. She blasts techno music to get herself in the right competitive mindset. But before things really get underway, there’s one ritual she can’t skip: “I’m not ready until my gloves are perfectly adjusted and fit like a glove,” says the Yamaha rider. Her strong ambition then takes over from there.
For the past three years, Lucy Michel has been working out with personal and mental trainer Maik Thies. Her father had previously met him during a professional development course and put her in touch with him. Since then, the two have been training regularly to improve her fitness, stability, and coordination. She also benefits mentally from Thies’ expertise. “Since we’ve been working on this, for example, I’ve gotten much better at riding in the rain,” says Michel. In Schleiz last year, she even won an entire rain race as a guest starter in the Yamaha R3 bLU cRU Cup.
Goals for the new season
Team boss Stefan Laux is also certain that the race driver hasn’t lost any of her skills despite the break. “She has talent and works hard on herself,” says the Bavarian. “That’s why I promised her that we’d pick up where we left off as soon as her schedule allows.” For Laux, it’s clear that the partnership with “Speedy Lucyana,” as he affectionately calls her, is intended to be a long-term one. In the upcoming season, the focus will therefore primarily be on having fun and getting her back into the swing of racing in the IDM Supersport . “If she manages to keep up with the speed of the top 10, we’d be more than satisfied,” Laux added.
Lucy Michel has already proven time and again that she knows how to race. Now she has to hold her own in the chaos of the young and wild SSP 300 class. It’s probably not an easy task. But the aspiring medical radiology technician certainly knows a thing or two about hard work.