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not move vehicles like this I would never think about racing . He was always asking for a PW50 Yamaha , a Peewee . I did not think it was something for a racing career , it was just something some people had . We shared our passion , and if you have a son , and he likes something , you also like it . Even if you did not push it , he liked it . He would ride sometimes for three hours , sometimes just for ten minutes , then he would say , ‘ OK we stop , now we go home .’ He did it on his own . Sometimes , just sometimes , I would say , do this a little bit like this . He did a Supermoto race on his PW , but I was not there , I was with my race team . He called me and said , ‘ Papa , I finished fourth in the race … but the bike was too slow !” After a progression on dirt and Supermoto , Philipp wanted to ride a road race bike . This is where family connections can come in handy , as they borrowed a small race bike from … the legendary Ralf Waldmann . The rest is history still being made , and Philipp has added ten WorldSSP podiums , across only two seasons , to his Moto3 win and podiums stats . What did Phillip , for his part , make of his father being a racer when he was young . “ There were always bikes around at home , all kinds of bikes , so I wanted to ride bikes right from the start ,” said Philipp , who is still only 25 . “ We always watched the GP races on TV . When I was five years old my parents agreed I could have a bike .
“ He was born in 1996 , more or less two weeks before I won
TM my last GP - in Mugello ”
EXCITING CONTENT
My father and me did not have the intention or the idea that as a five year old kid we would make the next world champion ! We did it together because he was riding motocross and I started with motocross , and that was it . It was like playing football together , nothing else . It started to get more serious with the Rookies Cup . When I look back it happened quite fast because at 16 years old I was already in the Moto3 World Championship .” Philipp sees few downsides and a lot of upsides to his father being a successful ex-racer . “ There were maybe more expectations from the outside , but I expected a lot from myself . To win all the time . But it was a big help , to be honest , to have a father who knows some things about riding technique , and knows some people in the sport , is always helpful . We had some more difficult times , where I think a father-son combination is maybe not perfect , but I think we adapt quite well to all the challenges we were facing . We are always switching between a working relationship and a family relationship . On race weekend we are working , but when we are back home it ’ s family . That ’ s it .” Pride in each others ’ s achievements are also a bedrock of any father son relationship in racing , as Peter first explained to me and then Philipp explained succinctly . “ When we started out on this project is different times but if your father is a GP winner , and a few years again I won a GP , it was nice . That it happened was maybe not a surprise , but in that moment it was special , quite special .”
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