Martin Vugrinec is still the only rider on the Skach Motors Kawasaki Racing Superbike team, but he’s working hard in practice as if there were two of them. The door is wide open for another rider to join the team.
“Spider-Martin” Vugrinec has been on the road in southern Europe for weeks. “My preseason training is stronger than ever,” assures the Croatian-born rider, who turns 26 tomorrow. The Bochum resident struggled for a long time to come to terms with last season’s misfortune. Exactly two weeks before the first race, Vugrinec suffered a serious crash during a guest appearance in the World Endurance Championship. In the crash, he fractured his left tibia and fibula. The rider with the spider web design on his helmet wasn’t able to start his IDM season until mid-season. As a rookie, he still managed to score ten championship points.
If it hadn’t been for the crash, he could have achieved even more. The spirited and ambitious Vugrinec is well aware that he needs to minimize his number of crashes and therefore has to take it a notch down in tight situations. That’s the only way to move forward. “Now I feel well prepared,” he says, “and I’m really looking forward to the races. I’m afraid some people have slowly forgotten who ‘Spider-Martin’ is. That has to change.” In other words: He wants to get back on the podium, just as he was in his prime in the IDM Supersport.
Vugrinec has tested at Jerez, Portimão, MotorLand Aragón, and Valencia, and he’s over the moon that he even managed to beat out BMW’s new recruit, Hannes Soomer, in Cartagena while riding at full throttle. It was impossible to tell just how hard the Estonian pushed himself. Vugrinec filmed everything and posted it on YouTube, including footage of him on the track with MotoGP rider Alex Rins in Jerez and World Superbike champion Scott Redding in Portimão.
On April 29, the Skach Motors Kawasaki team will test at Oschersleben and then at Most. By then, the second rider should also be on board. “The search for him is still ongoing,” team boss Oliver Skach reports on the latest developments. One option remains Italian rider Federico Caricasulo from the Superbike World Championship. A year ago, he made guest appearances at Oschersleben and Most. In 2025, he could compete in five of the seven events.