For Mitja Borgelt, it’s finally time to get started. Just a few days ago, the young talent celebrated his 14th birthday—a day he’d been eagerly awaiting, just as others look forward to coming of age. Because the minimum age for the IDM Supersport 300 is 14, he had to watch the racing action as a spectator at the season opener at the Sachsenring. That’s all over now.
Mitja Borgelt made a name for himself in the 2022 Yamaha R3 bLU cRU Cup when he secured the runner-up title in his rookie season with three podium finishes and one victory. The Rheda-Wiedenbrück native aims to build on these achievements in the Supersport 300 class for Team Kiefer Racing. In his first free practice sessions on Friday, he already posted 10th and 13th-place finishes. “I’ve been really looking forward to this weekend, and so far I’m more than satisfied with my lap times,” says the Yamaha rider, who is now considered the “new kid on the block” in the junior class.
Despite his young age, Mitja Borgelt has already gained quite a bit of racing experience. In 2016, he began competing in various motocross races before switching to asphalt in 2020 and competing in the ADAC Minibike Junior Cup in 2021. A year later, he competed in the Yamaha R3 bLU cRU Cup, where he finished as runner-up. After the R3 Cup was canceled before the season began, a call from Kiefer Racing came promptly, and his move to the IDM was sealed without further ado.
Now it’s time for the high school student to rack up kilometers and gain more experience. “Today definitely confirmed for me that the IDM is a very fast championship with a tight schedule,” says Borgelt. But the eighth-grader sees this as motivation to rise to these new challenges as best he can and grow from them. Among other things, interacting with his teammates will help him do that. Joining him on the racing team from Bad Kreuznach are former Cup teammate Albert Prasse and the reigning Supersport 300 champion, Marvin Siebdrath.