Last weekend it was time for Henri Möhring to prove himself in the 3rd round of this year’s Rotax Max Challenge Clubsport on the high-speed track of the ArenaE in Mülsen. Since his birthday last Wednesday, 15.06.2022, Henri is now 8 years old. At 36 degrees and permanently changing track conditions it was a race weekend which demanded everything from every driver and also the material.

We traveled with a lot of positive mood and a very good preparation already on Thursday morning to Mülsen. Henri had 7 intensive training days before the race weekend to prepare for the track, which is characterized by very fast passages and a demanding infield. It was already evident in the first training sessions that Henri felt very comfortable in the ArenaE. He was already able to show in the first sessions as the fastest driver in his class that he would start the weekend with a lot of self-confidence.

“We came well prepared on this track. Really like it.”

Henri was able to finish the warm-up on Saturday as the second fastest rider (0:59.566) ahead of the experienced Maxim Becker (11 years), who is already racing in his fourth season in the Micro class (0:59.057). Third place went to Lennox Litzinger (0:59.721). It quickly became apparent that these three drivers would set the tone in Mülsen.

Qualifying on Saturday afternoon in extreme temperatures did not go according to plan. In the end Henri had to settle for 4th place. However, this was to change in the first race. Henri started the race from the beginning very concentrated and with the necessary courage to drive fast to the front. Already after the first curve and a good start he could find himself in 3rd place. The connection to Becker and Litzinger was there and the group of three dominated the action from then on. Due to an attempted overtaking maneuver by Litzinger on Becker and a related mistake, Henri Lennox was able to overtake Litzinger with still 3:30 min to go and thus gain second place.

Through his consistently very good and above all constant speed, he was able to stay close to Maxim Becker, but not attack him. In the end, Henri was 1.579 seconds off the win and was able to finish the race in second place with the second fastest race lap (0:59.193). The fastest race lap (0:59.107) was driven by Maxim Becker. The third fastest lap (0:59.300) went to the third placed Lennox Litzinger. Henri’s gap to 4th place in this race was 11.5 seconds.

In the second race and the again worse outside starting position Henri found himself on 5th place after the first corner. There was no chance for him to turn inside into the first corner and he had to come to terms with the dirty outside track. In the process he lost a few places. Already in the second lap Henri moved up from 5th to 3rd place. With a really spectacular overtaking maneuver he was able to brake past the two drivers in front when turning into the start/finish corner for the second time. After that a fight for the best lap started and the trio around Becker, Litzinger and Möhring could pull away more and more. Henri stayed in the waiting position as Litzinger and Becker fought a thrilling duel for the win. In the end Henri finished 1.6 seconds behind and an excellent third place. Even a short ride out (2 wheels next to the track) could not bring him out of the concept. Nevertheless, he was able to close the gap again and compete on eye level with the more experienced pilots. Also in this race he was able to record the second fastest race lap, with a time gap of only 0.044 to the winner Maxim Becker.

Due to Henri’s lack of racing experience, he was not yet able to take advantage of the very important factor in Mülsen of driving in the slipstream of the car in front, but drove free best times and still kept up with the two first-place finishers. We want to work on this in order to be able to take this decisive advantage with us at the next race. We analyzed and worked through these points in the debrief with him.

We are very much looking forward to the next opportunity to compete and are full of confidence for the next race of the Rotax Max Challenge Germany, which will already take place this weekend again in the ArenaE in Mülsen.

  • To come: Rotax Max Challenge Germany in the ArenaE in Mülsen 25./26.06.22