Put a mountain bike champion and one of the most highly regarded MotoGP riders of the last two decades together for one day. That's how Fabio Wibmer and Dani Pedrosa turned into a student and a professor of motorcycling, achieving a result that was decidedly not a foregone conclusion.
It must be said that the young Austrian stuntman has two wheels in his blood. Whether they are pedal or motor, he has a way with them. It is not for nothing that his performances between jumps and evolutions even over cars or between bridges, have so far been able to gather a pool of followers on You Tube that touches 7.8 million.
Despite having decades of experience in motocross, the 29-year-old was not granted clearance to get on a top class machine, so before he could take part in the lesson with an exceptional master, he had to train on a MiniGP, which immediately saw him put on a show and impress, first on a KTM RC8 and again on a Moto 2, so as to acquire the necessary speed to face the test at the Red Bull Ring track in the best possible way.
After a day of preparation, the sportsman showed up fully charged up in front of the current KTM test rider claiming he was ready to race, but after the first few kilometres on the bike, his bravado gave way to realism. "The power is really crazy," he exclaimed as he got off the bike after a lap spent in the slipstream of the Super Duke 1390 R of the Spanish rider, who for the occasion showed him the right lines to take to set a worthy time.
In the end, the stopwatch stopped at 1'53". Just to give a figure and make a comparison, in 2023 the lap time that had earned Pecco Bagnaia the pole had been 1'28"539.
"I watched him carefully and he impressed me. It was perfect," was the former Honda rider's praise.
"I know that few people are lucky enough to ride vehicles like that, and I have to say that I was fascinated by the corner lean and finding out what angles you can hold. Although I'm far from bending like someone in the trade, I feel I came close to the limit in some places. The similarities to my sport? Balance, control of the vehicle, and the handling," was the apprentice's feedback.