Max Nagl back up to speed in the World Cup
After his second victory in the 2015 FIM MXGP World Championship and his third in the last five Grand Prix, Red Bull Ice One Husqvarna rider Max Nagl may well become one of the title contenders in this new season. The German has repeatedly spoken about his happiness within the Finnish team, which is based in Belgium and owned by Formula 1 driver Kimi Raikonen. The FC450 setup certainly contributed to better speed. In Qatar, the 27-year-old started very brightly and won both heats before the end of the first round. In Argentina last week he had to come from out of the top ten and then passed Ryan Villopoto, Tony Cairoli and Clement Desalle. This shows that he is currently performing at a high level.
Nagl may now have found a more flexible and good support structure that is certainly suitable for his talents and certainly for the feeling of the engine. Hopefully the injuries that could be behind any corner or side will remain behind and then he can join the fray in the next six months.
The last time Nagl finished second in the final standings of the world championship was in 2009. But the subsequent years were much less successful, as he suffered from a large number of physical and health problems, even a serious back injury in 2011/2012 almost threw his career off balance. It was these ailments that led to Nagl losing his reputation as a fantastically fast rider during this entire period. Max makes a nod to his summary of himself in Argentina when we asked if he was already looking forward to Tony Cairoli's MXGP crown after this convincing and positive start to the 2015 season.
“This year I feel better than ever, I would say, but the championship is still long and the most important thing is to stay injury free,” he said. “This is not always under your control, so I really hope that I can remain injury free. I work hard during the week to improve my speed even more. We will try to continue this way.”
Text: Adam Wheeler / OTOR
Photo: Husqvarna Images
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