From now on, there will be a pair of young riders competing in the sidecar class of the International German Motorcycle Championship. After Lennard Göttlich (18) made his debut last year as a rider alongside veteran co-pilot Uwe Neubert for the Bonovo Action Team, the young Saxon will continue his career with Lukas Krieg as his passenger. The 20-year-old from Hohenstein-Ernstthal works as an automotive mechatronics technician in Oberlungwitz and is anything but a rookie. He has been part of Mike Roscher’s team for years and was active on the racetracks last season as the passenger for Swiss rider Peter Schröder in the International Sidecar Trophy. In the 1000cc class, Schröder/Krieg finished third overall.
“Actually, I already knew before Lennard did that I might be his co-driver next year,” says Lukas Krieg, who was in regular contact with Uwe Neubert last season and therefore learned about Neubert’s plans early on. “It was Uwe’s idea that Lennard and I could compete together next year,” Krieg continues. From then on, he says, he was literally waiting for the call from Lennard Göttlich, which finally came in October. With an average age of 19, they are by far the youngest team in the IDM sidecar class.
Since November, the two up-and-coming talents have been fine-tuning their collaboration. But even though Göttlich and Krieg are still primarily focused on learning and gaining experience, their ambition is already in full swing. “If we finish in the top 15 in the races, we’ll be satisfied. But making it into the top ten teams would be great,” says Göttlich, who already stood on the podium with Neubert in Most during his first season and celebrated several top-five finishes.