MAD Performance made its first racing appearance on German soil this past weekend. At the season opener of the ADAC Kart Masters at Arena E Mülsen, the new team founded by BMW works drivers Max Hesse and Dan Harper entered drivers in the OK-N Junior, OK-N and Mini A categories. Carlos Nees immediately delivered a standout performance and now leads the championship.
The highlight of the weekend came from Carlos Nees, who was among the dominant drivers in OK-N Junior. After qualifying fifth, the young driver from the Motorsport Team Germany line-up consistently ran at the front with finishes of second and fourth in the heats. Ranked third after the heats, he went on to win the Super Heat in commanding fashion.
Nees confirmed his strong pace in the final, finishing second and setting the fastest lap of the race. With this result, he leaves the opening round as the championship leader.
Alongside Nees, the team gathered valuable experience in OK-N Junior. Johnston Stewart showed a strong comeback after difficult heats and fought his way up to eighth place in the final. His sister Andie Stewart impressed particularly on Saturday with consistent performances and was running inside the top ten after the heats, before a setback in the Super Heat dropped her back. For Luca Tafelmeier, the focus was on gaining race experience. Several penalties prevented a stronger result, but he still collected important mileage and underlined his potential with fourth place in Sunday morning’s warm-up.
In the OK-N category, the weekend did not go according to plan for Charlotte Tille and Vincent Stiffel. Tille built a solid foundation during free practice but faced multiple setbacks once racing began. For her, the focus now shifts forward to the next events. Team-mate Stiffel made his ADAC Kart Masters debut in Mülsen and showed steady improvement over the course of the weekend, although he was unfortunately forced to retire in the final.
In Mini A, Luca Mattis Brixius represented MAD Performance. With many new aspects to adapt to, the focus was clearly on development and experience. He improved consistently throughout the weekend and finished the final in 16th place, scoring his first championship points.
Team co-founder Max Hesse was present on Friday, working closely with the drivers, while Thomas Rackl, former karting champion and current GT4 driver, supported the team during the race weekend, bringing valuable experience to the young drivers.
Hesse summed up the weekend on Sunday evening: “It was a very important weekend for us, as it marked our first race outing in Germany. Carlos obviously delivered a real highlight with his performance. At the same time, we also saw where we still need to improve. Many of our drivers have moved up to new categories, and that simply takes time to adapt. That’s exactly what weekends like this are for – to learn, to develop and to grow together as a team. We’re taking a lot of valuable insights with us and will keep working hard.”
Several of the team’s drivers will already be back in action next weekend, once again in Mülsen, for the next round of the German Kart Championship (DKM).
