Where to Ski And Snowboard - Motorbike races up Hahnenkamm

Motorbike races up Hahnenkamm

21st January 2017, by Abi Butcher

Marc Márquez drives a MotoGP bike up the Hahnenkamm in Kitzbühel. Pic: Redbull

Last year, Max Verstappen drove a Formula 1 car on a ski slope in Kitzbühel to celebrate the start of the Hahnenkamm ski race — and this year it was the turn of Spanish Grand Pris motorcycle rider Marc Márquez to become the first man to drive a MotoGP bike up the mountain.

World Champion Márquez had 483 spikes embedded on the tyres of his Repsol Honda RC213V MotoGP — with each spike 3cm to give “a little extra grip”, thanks to some help from Austrian ice speedway legend Franky Zorn.

“The piste was really well prepared. I could really get going and I had a great feeling out there. The grip was unbelievable, even for a wheelie!” said 23-year-old Márquez — and you can see how much fun he had in this video.

Marc Márquez: Showrun in Kitzbühel from World of Freesports on Vimeo.

The Hahnenkamm race — taking place on the Streif in Kitzbühel for the 77th time this weekend — is considered the toughest contest in skiing’s World Cup. Earlier this week, the Austrian ski resort revealed that it has perfect conditions for the famous race.

Meanwhile, over in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Germany, US skier Lindsey Vonn today made a winning comeback in just her second race after breaking her arm in a training crash 10 weeks ago. Vonn, who today notched up the 77th win of her career, revealed last week that she had such extensive nerve damage in the crash in Copper Mountain that she couldn’t even hold her ski pole.

Today, Lindsey Vonn finished 0.15 seconds ahead of Swiss rival and current World Champion Lara Gut and 0.48 ahead of Viktoria Rebensburg of Germany.

For results and the latest up-to-date information on the Hahnenkamm, visit hahnenkamm.com