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Marcel Schrötter before the start of the season: "I will try to enjoy the races more"

2021-03-18T10:40:57.486Z


The motorcycle world championship begins in Qatar on March 28th. Marcel Schrötter is already making his way there, because tests are on the program. In the interview, the pilot, for whom a lot has changed, expresses himself.


The motorcycle world championship begins in Qatar on March 28th.

Marcel Schrötter is already making his way there, because tests are on the program.

In the interview, the pilot, for whom a lot has changed, expresses himself.

Vilgertshofen - The headlines recently revolved around the eternal question: Will Marcel Schrötter still make it into the premier class of bikers, the MotoGP?

Over Christmas, the driver from the “Liqui Moly Intact GP Team” sank the ballast that the expectations bring with them, as well as the frustration of the previous year (9th place in the overall championship standings).

A lot is new now: his technical team, his crew chief, his attitude.

The motorcyclist reports on this in an interview.

2020 was perhaps the toughest season mentally with countless setbacks.

Do you feel like the new one at all?

But definitely.

Sure, the last season was dead, even after that.

That was a tough time.

Not only because of the format, so many races in a short time, then Corona, the testing before afterwards.

It was really tough.

By Christmas I realized that the season was in my bones.

If you've cycled for an hour in the basement and thought about it, you didn't feel like it again for three days.

From Christmas on, things went uphill.

I'm really looking forward to the new season.

In the end you suffered a lot of frustration ...

Such moments - frustration and disappointment - everyone knows in sport.

Not just once.

You then ask yourself: Is it worth the effort for finishing 15th?

What am I doing it for?

On the other hand, that's my job, that's what I get paid for.

The site is important to see.

It never got to the point where I crouched at home and didn't feel like it anymore.

Those were moments after training, after races, after which you are on the ground.

I want to keep riding my motorcycle.

The only question is what happens if things don't go that way.

We're trying to get out of last year's hole first, are pursuing a slightly different strategy and have changed crew.

How's the new team doing?

It's great fun to work with the crew.

We're going different ways, the crew chief has a different mentality.

Everyone has their own ideas about how the bike should work.

So far you had a crew chief from South Tyrol, now an Allgäu.

What kind of guy is he?

A very young guy, in his early 30s, just like me: he sees everything more relaxed.

We fit together very well.

And he's a very smart guy.

Just one example: On the side, he invented a device for farming at home.

How's the arm doing six months after the operation?

So far so good.

During the test drives I noticed that it tweaks in places.

I keep trying and doing how I can take some pressure off with my driving style.

You can't just turn off your arm.

I try to take a different position, especially in right turns.

And I'm still looking at what can be done in the direction of physio.

I did massage - to put it stupidly - 20 years.

During the test in Jerez you had a little fall, how much does that affect you?

Not at all.

That day it cost us time and got us out of the rhythm.

Before that, I paid very, very much attention to the driving, changed a few things, some of which worked really well.

I was really quick in Spain straight away.

Then the fall came at a moment when you think: “I haven't really pressed on yet.” A few small things were broken on the motorcycle.

But the fall was not worth mentioning.

You also did motocross in Spain - was that fun or something to learn?

You can hardly do anything for circuit driving.

Motocross is a huge hobby and fun.

And super-good fitness training.

The route changes lap by lap.

If you drive at the limit for 30 minutes, it's a matter of fitness and your head.

During the season you come to cross country for a day, but not regularly.

It's easier to see in winter.

You turned 28 in January - what was your birthday?

Let me put it this way: few people, few gifts.

Which pressure is actually greater at 28: the one you put yourself under or the one from the racing team?

In fact, the pressure is now decreasing.

We all have enough experience, I've been around long enough.

Nobody needs to say, now you have to deliver.

I know very well that if I just drive around each other, I will no longer be part of the team.

On the other hand, there are no worries.

The team is super happy, we get along well - and I'm important to the team.

For a German team with German sponsors, it would not be ideal if there were no German drivers with them.

But if you hang in the holes and drive for 15th or 20th place, that is no longer a guarantee.

Success is then more important.

Sounds like MotoGP is no longer the all-defining goal?

I still see my chance at the Moto GP.

It could help me somewhere that there is no German driver.

If not, then it just isn't like that.

I see it more relaxed now.

I want to have fun.

You quickly forget that and talk badly.

I mean, I get to ride motorcycle races all over the world.

I'll do that as long as I can.

I want to be successful, otherwise I'm not doing well either, but I want to see everything more relaxed.

Maybe I've been too tense the last few years.

I'll try to enjoy the races more, to annoy my opponents, to pursue new ways of looking at things.

Our motto with the Crew Chief is: Sometimes less is more.

What does it take to make it to the top?

It's hard to say in terms of placements.

Of course we should be in the top five.

But what counts is the performance over the entire season.

Always fighting for the podium, regularly being in the top six or top seven.

That is our goal.

Almost nobody drives that regularly.

Last year's world champion was also 15th in the beginning.

That's the hard thing about the class.

The level is so high.

+

Moto2 driver Marcel Schrötter hopes for top results.

© Gaetano Piazzolla via www.imago-images.de

You have a new driver on the team - how was the first meeting?

We had the first test in November 2020.

Since he was there.

Now we had another four days of testing in Spain.

He has to learn a bit, but he's quick.

We try to help each other on the track.

It is more useful to you if your colleague is quick.

That can be three or four tenths.

Last year it didn't work that well.

Tom Lüthi wanted to do his own thing.

In the end, however, he is an opponent like any other.

The season starts in Qatar.

Your most beautiful experience in the desert?

The pole position and the lap record two years ago.

The track suits me very well, we've always had decent starts to the season.

In general, things went well in 2019.

Until the uniform tires came for all teams, we were super fast - then super slow.

What does your friend say when you're on the road again?

It's not that easy with the overseas races at the beginning.

When Qatar is over after three weeks, I'm only gone every other weekend.

But: this is my job, that's how I earn my money.

There are worse things.

You also tested a BMW from the Superbike World Championship.

Was that your first approach to this class?

That was just fun and preparation for the season.

You can't drive a lot with a racing moped in that time.

This is not even allowed in winter.

That's why you have to look at how you can otherwise drive on the route for a few days.

That’s how it turned out.

BMW supported me and made a bike available.

It could have been a Yamaha too.

We try to do it this way every year.

After the first few trips, all muscles just hurt, you can go to the gym for seven days and not have this pain.

Jack Miller (Australia, 2020 World Cup seventh, editor) from MotoGP was there too.

It was nice to see that I can keep up or even be faster.

It shows me that Moto2 is a special class.

That doesn't mean I can't keep up in the GP.

Our tires are standardized.

Everyone complains about that.

This means that everyone is sliding closer together.

Source: merkur

All sports articles on 2021-03-18

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