Cycling: Last weekend, the German Fourcross Championship took place on the tank site in Reutlingen. Johannes Fischbach and Katrin Karkhof dominated in the mud and won the title in the elite classes.
The German Fourcross season started at the weekend with the national highlight, the German Championship. In Reutlingen near Stuttgart, more than 100 starters went to the gate and fought fiercely despite the adverse weather conditions. Heavy rain made the track extremely soft and so Friday's practice session had to be cancelled. However, better weather was forecast for Saturday. After a time qualification, which the local hero Benedikt Last won in the men's elite, the finals started in the afternoon.
The track continued to dry and several elite riders now ventured onto the proline. With few surprises, the favorites made it into the top 8. For the young star Atiesch Manathunga, however, it was already over in the quarter-finals. After Stefan Scherz stole the momentum for the Proline, he had to settle for 13th place.
The big favorites prevailed in the two elite semi-finals. After a mediocre qualification, Stefan Scherz found his rhythm better and better and was able to work his way into the final with strong starts. Benedikt Last and Johannes Fischbach also made it to the final without any problems. Axel Flakowski finally completed the gate in the men's grand final.
Last didn't burn anything at his gate. Starting from the inside line, he prevailed against Fischbach and was the first to turn into the right-hand bend and the approach to the Proline.
What was not to be expected: the attack by Fischbach. Fischbach took the very muddy inside line in the approach to the two big doubles and was able to push himself under load.
While Fischbach went over the proline, Last had to brake, rolled through the first double and was just missed by Flakowski in the landing. Scherz was the only one of the four riders to play it safe and took the amateur line where he picked up enough momentum to attack in the last corner but was stopped by a flat tire.
Johannes Fischbach meanwhile, after three years of abstinence, drove towards his fifth German title in Fourcross and relegated Benedikt Last, who had been a favorite of the last two years, to second place.
Katrin Karkhof, however, left little to impress. Her Pivot-Enduro gave her a big advantage, especially in Steinfeld, which was ultimately to bring her her first German Championship title. In the final she prevailed against Julia Lackas and Jessica Schmulbach.
Marvin Schaupp could not confirm his win from the U19 qualification. For the third time in a row he made it into the final of the German Championships and for the third time he just missed the top step of the podium. This was secured by Yannik Ochs from Winnenden, who largely stayed out of the crowd on the first straight and was the first to turn into Steinfeld.
At the Masters, things got hot in the grand finale. After Joscha Bazynski and Markus Bast touched shortly after the start, Bast did a rodeo ride and was already out of the fight for the title after the first corner. Kai Sieber took advantage of the moment and took the lead in the tumult, which he held to the finish line and thus repeated his DM victory from the previous year. Behind him, Bazynski and Decker finished.
Pictures: Lukas Hennecke