Trial in Arena Nova

The clock is ticking for Marco at the World Championships in Wr. Neustadt

Marco Mempör is Austria's figurehead at the Indoor Trials World Championships in Wr.(Bild: Alfred Nevsimal)

After a two-year break, the Indoor Trail World Championships will stop off in Wr. Neustadt on Saturday with all its stars like him. A tightening of the rules plays into the hands of local hero Marco Mempör: the clock is ticking for the young World Championship pro.

Fear of heights? Not an issue when you're balancing on a tree trunk several meters above the ground on a motorcycle. Or a concrete pipe. Or an excavator. That's how they are, the world's best trial bikers. The high altitude rush is now joined by "cave rush" - in Wr. Neustadt they have a roof over their heads, and after two years the indoor world championships will make a stop at the Arena Nova on Saturday (from 6.30 pm). The clock is ticking there for a young local hero: Marco Mempör.

The Lower Austrian is involved in the World Championships and has already finished seventh in Japan. Now he is also competing against stars like Toni Bou under the indoor roof. The Spaniard has been world champion continuously since 2007 (!) - both outdoors and indoors. "I can learn a lot from him, the precision when riding, the calmness and mental strength," says Marco, "Toni is not so easy to upset."

At the World Championships in Wr. Neustadt, six sections await in the first round. In six minutes.(Bild: R.Wehrl)

Perhaps a new rule will help: there is now less time for the sections. "That increases my chances," Marco is convinced, "you need to be in good shape to deliver a top performance in the six minutes of the first round. I'm well prepared." The clock is ticking for him in the truest sense of the word: at just 21 years old, he is in full flow - Bou is already 38.