The Thunderstorm: Aprilia Tuono and I

I was struck by the world of racing at the age of 12 when the local motorcycle club organized the European enduro championship race in my hometown. All of a sudden, life came into the secluded world of the German state of Hesse on the edge of the Iron Curtain.

Exotic, colorful machines and new, unfamiliar languages mingled with the rattle of the two-stroke machines. A year later, I borrowed money to buy my first bike, a Zündapp 100, which let me carry out little escapes from my everyday life and participate in my first competitions.

Later, I competed in the German amateur motocross championships over four years.

When I finished school, the question arose: what's next? It was clear to me—it had to be something to do with motorcycles, so I enrolled to study automotive engineering at the Munich University of Applied Sciences.

I certainly wasn't a model student and managed to pass my intermediate exams at the very last minute. Yet, I had finally cleared the way for my practical semester—my first step into the motorbike industry!