Event Coverage

Max Nagl crowned the 2004 season in Schefflenz with his 3rd German Championship title this year. After winning titels in the 125 ccm and open class, Nagl defeated Sarholz-Honda’s Ken De Dijcker and took home the DMX title to Germany and Kosak-KTM.

The conditions on the nice track were disadvantageous although the organizer did a great job. Cold weather and especially rain maybe prevent a regular title decision in heat three. But one thing after each other.

Before the last round in Schefflenz four riders had the chance to take title glories. De Dijcker lead the championship table with 15 points in front of Nagl and 18 points ahead of Swanepoel. The fourth rider with theoretical title chances was Kurz Suzuki’s Josef Dobes.

When heat one starts on a difficult and muddy track, the first of many crashes happened only 50 metres after the gate drops down. Siegl and Dugmore got stuck and went down. When Siegl started his hunt for points the race for Dugmore was over after lap one with a twisted brake disk. Maybe a disadvantage for his team-mate De Dijcker because from this point he had no team support against the Kosak riders anymore.



The race was very complex, many riders got caught on several uphills. After two or three rounds the first pack of riders were lapped by the leaders. After lap one Team Kosak showed his strength to the spectators. Swanepoel, Leok and Nagl lead the pack through the following laps. Only a surprisingly Andreas Huber was able to battle against Leok and Nagl in the first laps. But when they passed Huber the three Kosak riders made a big gap between them and the rest of the field. But where was Ken De Dijcker? After a bad start he fights back in the first lap into top ten. He passed one rider after each other and went in 4th position.


But then Swanepoel dropped down two times on the same small jump with a following DNF. When the chequered flag went down Leok wins with Nagl and De Dyker behind. Not really. The fastest rider of the weekend, Leok was passed by Nagl in order of team strategy. So Nagl took 20 points and close the gap to De Dijcker to ten points. After this race it was cleared that there were only two riders with realistic title chances, De Dijcker and Nagl.

Race two started again with a strong Team Kosak. Leok, Swanepoel and Nagl were on the first three positions. After a few laps Kosaks’ team strategy found a new “victim”. Swanepoel was passed by team-mate Nagl. But in the same lap Swanepoel made a mistake so De Dyker passed him, too. Until the last lap, Leok leads the race before Nagl and De Dyker. It was expected that Leok leave the heat victory to Nagl, but what then happened was surprisingly. It seemed that Loek wanted to show the spectators that Nagl passed him by team order. Leok waits till he came into lower track part where the bigger part of attendance look at the race. In a 180° corner Leok brake to standstill and Nagl passed him.


But this move from Leok was not very clever because of his standstill De Dyker was direct behind him. In the last corner De Dyker blocked Leok with a risky but successful move so he became second after Nagl. After race two there were only seven points between De Dyker and Nagl.

The final title decision must fell in heat three. Nagl did the hole shot with his team-mates Leok and Swanepoel in following positions. De Dyker was speedy in 4th position with a small gap to the Kosak riders. In this moment it looks like Nagl could win the championship with tie and more race wins. But then Nagl made a mistake and went down to third position. Meanwhile De Dyker made a mistake, too.



Dobes took temporally 4th position with De Dyker in 5th. Shortly later De Dyker fights back and made some pressure to Nagl. What then happens was a disaster for the Sarholz Honda driver. Nagl passed a lapped rider before a tough uphill and De Dyker wanted to do the same but he was not successful. The lapped rider crossed his line in the corner to the uphill, so De Dyker went down and was not able to continue the race because it took ages till his bike was running again. So Nagl only needed a 9th place to win the title. Without team order Leok won the last heat in front of the new champ Nagl and Dobes. Swanepoel dropped back to 4th place.

What else was mentionable in Schefflenz:

Sadly local hero Marco “Joker” Dorsch was not able to race his home round because of contractually commitment which disposed him to race in Switzerland

Only 32 DMX riders were on the gate
Andreas Huber was a big surprise with 5/6/DNF. He is 20 years of age and ride a four stroke KTM for Team Härtl


Daniel Siegl showed a strong performance but had bad luck with his starts. If he continues like he did in the second half of this season he will a insiders’ tip for next season

Aigar Leok rode very smooth and sometimes it looks like Stefan Everts was riding on the track.

Ken Roczen, youngest rider of the ADAC-Junior cup, rode very well and did his first podium. He’s the best German in this championship table