Just one week after its German debut at the ADAC Kart Masters, MAD Performance faced its next major challenge: the season opener of the German Kart Championship at Arena E Mülsen. In an international field with drivers from 18 nations, the young team entered drivers in the Mini, OK-N Junior and OK-N categories. Under excellent weather conditions and partly summer-like temperatures, the weekend became a mix of strong pace, valuable race mileage and opportunities that were not fully rewarded.
The sporting highlight came from Carlos Nees in OK-N Junior. The young driver underlined his pace impressively already in qualifying, securing pole position with a lap time of 50.202 seconds. He confirmed his strong form in the heats as well: with a win in the first heat and third place in the second, Carlos led the Ranking after Heats and was one of the standout drivers in his category from the very beginning.
In the Super Heat, Carlos once again ran among the front-runners and finished fourth. That put him second in the Final Classification and secured him a starting position on the front row for the final. However, the final result did not fully reflect the performance he had shown throughout the weekend. Following a five-second penalty, Carlos was classified eighth and therefore remained below what had been possible. Nevertheless, he proved across the entire weekend that he is immediately capable of fighting at the front at DKM level.
Luca Tafelmeier also showed promising signs in OK-N Junior. After qualifying 13th, he delivered a strong result in the first heat with sixth place in a highly competitive field. A five-second penalty in the second heat then set him back, but he was still ranked 12th after the heats. Sunday proved more difficult: another penalty followed in the Super Heat, and Luca was unable to start the final. It was therefore a weekend with good pace, but without the deserved result at the end.
In OK-N, Charlotte Tille and Conor McPolin competed for MAD Performance. Charlotte worked her way forward after qualifying 21st and recorded solid results with 14th and 17th place in the heats. She remained consistent in both the Super Heat and the final, finishing the weekend in 17th place. For her, the focus was on a clean and learning-oriented performance, collecting important race mileage in the new category.
Conor McPolin initially had a difficult start to the weekend and did not set a valid lap time in qualifying. In the heats, however, he showed a good reaction and finished 16th twice, clearly improving his position. On Sunday, a penalty in the Super Heat and a difficult starting position prevented a stronger overall result. Conor took the chequered flag in 24th place in the final and also gained valuable experience in Mülsen.
In the Mini category, Luca Mattis Brixius completed an intensive learning weekend. After qualifying 25th, he improved to 21st in the first heat before suffering a setback in the second heat. In the Super Heat and Final Classification, he remained in the lower midfield, but moved forward again in the final to finish 22nd. For the young driver, the weekend was mainly about experience, development and further race mileage.
Max Hesse summed up the weekend: “It was a very important weekend for us. After our first appearance in Germany at the ADAC Kart Masters, we went straight into a highly competitive DKM field. Carlos showed with his pole position and heat win what potential there is within the team. At the same time, we saw that we still have a lot to learn and that we need to continue growing as a structure. Some of the results did not fully reflect the pace, but weekends like this are exactly what helps us move forward. We take a lot of valuable insights with us and will now work in a focused way on the next steps.”
For MAD Performance, the DKM season opener in Mülsen was another important step in the young team’s development. The pace was clearly visible, especially in OK-N Junior, while all drivers gained valuable experience in a strong international field. The German Kart Championship continues from 29 to 31 May 2026 in Cheb, Czech Republic. There, MAD Performance aims to confirm the positive signs from Mülsen and take the next step.
