Last weekend, the SHR Motorsports by Hartje team competed in the second-last round of the 2025 ADAC MX Masters season. For the first time, the series stopped off at the French sand track in Bitche. Only 17 kilometres from the German border, it is also the home track of the current World Championship leader Romain Febvre.
This demanding course was new to all riders on the calendar. In changeable weather conditions, Emil Weckman put in a strong performance in qualifying. The Finnish rider was in third place in his group for a long time and was only pushed back to sixth place shortly before the end.
His teammate Mike Stender also made the most of the final round and secured eighth place on the grid, close behind Weckman.
The start of the race weekend was promising for both riders. Weckman and Stender got off to a solid start and were in the top 15. But in the fourth corner, Emil was involved in a crash. This not only meant the loss of many positions, but also a technical defect on the bike, which resulted in him having to end the race early with five laps to go. Mike, on the other hand, delivered a strong performance and finished the first race in 10th place.
Unfortunately, Emil’s second race ended early again after a heavy crash at the start. He fell and was hit on the back by another bike. Although he was able to leave the track on his own, he had to stop racing immediately.
Mike also didn’t get off to an ideal start and came back from the first lap in 19th place. But then he showed his fighting spirit: with incredible speed and strong overtaking manoeuvres, he fought his way through the field. Lap after lap, he pushed forward, leaving his rivals behind and battling his way up to 9th place. This comeback was undoubtedly one of the strongest performances of the entire weekend and a real highlight for the SHR Motorsports by Hartje team.
Due to his injury, Emil Weckman decided not to compete in the third race and went straight to hospital. There, he was diagnosed with an injury that means the season is over for him. This is a bitter setback after his recent strong performances.
Mike was held up again at the start of the third race, but showed a strong comeback and engaged in thrilling battles, including with championship leader Max Nagl. With a solid 11th place in the third race, he not only secured 8th place in the weekend standings, but also his best Masters result of the 2025 season. This also moved him up a few places in the championship standings too.
Luck and bad luck were closely mixed this weekend in Bitche. While Emil Weckman had to end his season early due to injury after a disastrous weekend, Mike Stender achieved his best result of the current season so far with 8th place overall and, above all, his sensational comeback in the second race.
The entire team wishes Emil a speedy and full recovery. We are now looking forward to the season finale in Holzgerlingen with Mike Stender and Dawid Zaremba at the start.
