Health issues have recently set Swiss rider Marcel Brenner back significantly in his career. He talks about using the 2025 season as a rebuilding year in the International German Motorcycle Championship (IDM), when he Supersport in the IDM Supersport class with the MotoLife team on a Ducati V2 Panigale.
A sudden collapse, mental exhaustion, a kind of burnout. Following his illness, Marcel Brenner had not competed in the Supersport since August 2024, a series he had worked his way up to on a Kawasaki. At the end of October, he announced his retirement from the World Championship. This is just an interim step. The 27-year-old wants to return and has been consciously taking care of his health since receiving his medical diagnosis. And things are looking up. In the 2025 season, the racer from the village of Schüpfen in the canton of Bern—a community of 4,000 where cows graze peacefully in the pastures during the summer—will Supersport in the IDM Supersport series.
Instead of staying at home by the babbling brooks and winding hiking trails, Brenner is inevitably drawn to the racetrack. “I’m thrilled to have secured a spot on the MotoLife team. With Ducati, we definitely have a great brand as our race bike, and I’m looking forward to clocking my first laps soon. Due to my illness, 2025 will be a rebuilding year. The goal is for me to feel comfortable again and to be able to truly enjoy myself—especially while doing what I love most: racing. Based on my first impressions, I’m sure I’ll feel very much at home with the MotoLife team. That’s what matters most.”
Team manager Andreas Köder has been keeping an eye on the new recruit ever since Brenner Supersport two Supersport in the IDM Supersport with Hess Racing four years ago, finishing on the podium both times, before later moving up to the World Championship. “We’re convinced that, with the right support, Marcel can spring a few surprises,” says Köder, the owner of a motorcycle repair shop in Ellwangen, who is proud of the results so far. “Last year, MotoLife proved as a team what it can achieve when it earns a rider’s trust. Luca de Vleeschauwer finished as runner-up with us. In recent weeks, we’ve also developed some new components for the motorcycle together with our partner WRP (Wepol Racing Parts).”