Honda signs Max Nagl for the next two seasons
Monday 23 September: Max Nagl who rode for KTM this season has signed with Honda World Motocross MX1 for 2013 and signed a two year contract to extend the team of Martin Honda. Max will be team-mate to Evgeny Bobryshev.
From left to right: Lorenzo Resta from Martin Honda team, Max Nagl, Roger Harvey - the boss of Honda Europe.
Honda Motor Europe is pleased to secure the services of Maximilian Nagl to race for the Honda
World Motocross team aboard the CRF450R for the next two seasons in the
MX1 World Championship.
Nagl, who hails from Weilheim in Germany,
is a national title winner, Grand Prix winner as well as a MX1
Championship runner-up. The 25-year-old racer has suffered with injury,
which has curtailed his progress in the past two seasons amongst a
number of podium finishes, but is looking forward to his new
collaboration with Honda and competing the CRF450R.
Nagl began riding at the age of five years old and won his first race
three years later. In 2000 he won the German 85cc national title
followed by national adult ADAC championship wins in 2004 and 2006. Nagl
took his first MX1 Grand Prix victory in Italy in 2008, and has since
taken numerous Grand Prix wins, moto wins and podium finishes, with the
highlight of his career being when he achieved the runner-up spot in the
MX1 World series in 2009.
Nagl has made a strong comeback towards the end of 2012 and now begins a
new chapter in his career as he chooses to race Honda machinery
alongside Evgeny Bobryshev for his 2013 campaign. The German star, who
is looking forward to becoming part of the Honda family, will head to
Japan for testing with Honda's research and development team, before
beginning his training programme with the Honda World Motocross squad in
Italy over the winter period.
Max Nagl: "I am really excited to be joining Honda because it's going to be a new
experience for me. It's almost my first time on a Japanese bike, which
will be a new challenge with a lot of motivation, and I can't wait to
get going. The Honda World Motocross team looks really professional, and
from what I can see it's like a big family, so I'm really happy about
coming to the team. My personal goal is for top three in the
championship, and I really believe we can achieve this. Both Bobby and I
will be on the same level, with no rider having any extra advantage
from a support point of view, which is important so we can work together
to achieve the goals. I know him from some of the events and races; he
is a cool guy and the main thing for me is that he is very down to
earth, even when he is winning, so that's good and I am sure we will
work well together, which is important. It's funny because in the 85cc
schoolboy classes at the start of my career I rode a Honda 80cc with a
lot of good victories and now I'm back where I started. My injuries are
all good now, so I am looking forward to a strong pre-season to build up
for next year. I am excited to go to Japan and learn how everything
works while making the preparations, so I'm really happy to be
announcing this new partnership."
Roger Harvey: Honda Motor Europe Off-Road Manager: "We are delighted to have secured Max's services and to welcome him into
the Honda family. We know he rode Honda machinery in the early part of
his career with considerable success and this relationship is an
exciting new chapter for him. Max has a lot of experience with an
impressive résumé, and we believe there is a lot more potential for him
to succeed, especially having had two seasons with time off the bike,
which has served to increase his determination. His comeback this year
has so far been very impressive, and we believe that we have a strong
pairing for our aim of podium and race winning success with Max and
Bobby. Having spent some time with Max it's apparent that his attitude
towards his racing is excellent, and we hope that both riders can pull
each other forward, progress the development of the CRF450R, while
having a strong working relationship to put the Honda at the sharp end
of the championship series. Max will be riding the bike as soon as
possible before heading to Japan to work through an extensive programme
in preparation for next year. There's really not much time between now
and the first race, so the team will be working incredibly hard in
ensuring we have everything in place to reach our potential."
Maximilian Nagl profile:
1998 23rd ADAC Junior Cup
1999 5th ADAC Junior Cup
2000 2nd ADAC Junior Cup Rank, German Champion 85cc class
2001 ADAC Junior Cup winner, DMSB Cup
2002 5th 125cc International German championship
2003 5th 125cc Championship, 35th World MX2 Championship, 9th Inter-DM (victory in Teutschenthal)
2004 28th MX2 World Championship, 1st place Inter DM, 1st Place DM 125, DM 1st place Open
2005 16th MX2 World Championship, 3rd ADAC MX Masters (Inter DM)
2006 20th MX2 World Championship, ADAC MX Masters winner
2007 18th MX1 World Championship (3rd place in the World Cup race in Spain), 3rd ADAC MX Masters
2008 6th MX1 (5 race wins, 5 podiums, GP win Italy), ADAC MX Masters winner
2009 Motocross MX1 runner-up (7 race wins, 7 podiums, 2 GP wins in France and Sweden), 4th ADAC MX Masters
2010 4th MX 1 World Championship (4 race wins, 7 podiums, GP win Bulgaria), 7 ADAC MX Masters
2011 5th MX1 World Championship (3 podiums)
2012 Max went 7th and 3rd this morning for 4th overall at the German MXGP