Martin Vugrinec has been sidelined since his sudden crash at the World Endurance Championship opener in Le Mans a week ago. The Croatian rider will miss the IDM season opener at the Sachsenring on the first weekend in May. Team Skach Motors Kawasaki Racing subsequently searched for a replacement rider and found one in 28-year-old Nico Thöni.
“Spider” Martin Vugrinec is now back home in Bochum, Germany. The 25-year-old Croatian is—as he himself says—already hard at work, training to regain mobility in his toes. He suffered a fracture of the tibia and fibula in his left leg during his crash at Le Mans. Following the surgery, the stitches protrude from his knee in all directions. Vugrinec is currently getting around using blue forearm crutches—or rather, crutches—which he sets aside during his exercises. The Croatian hopes to make his debut in the Superbike class at the second IDM event in early June in Oschersleben, “but it’s still too early to say for sure.”
For team boss Oliver Skach, however, it was immediately clear after Vugrinec’s injury that he couldn’t miss the IDM season opener with his new team and the bike’s new electronics. Marco Cortecchia, the chief developer at MecTronik, has even signed on. Former racer Skach had several candidates on his list as potential riders. In the end, the choice fell on Nico Thöni, who won the Pro Superstock Cup in 2020, competed for Kawasaki Weber Motos in the IDM Superbike class a year later, and is currently under contract with Team Bolliger Switzerland in the World Endurance Championship. The Styrian from Oberaich is familiar with the Kawasaki ZX-10RR.
