The legendary worm of Zettling

Between throttle cable break, shower of sparks and friendship – the final chapter of the 2025 AOM season

The fifth and final round of the Austrian Outdoor Masters took place in Zettling near Graz. Styria Karting created a short but technically challenging track in the landscape. With lap times around 48 seconds, 38 teams transformed the track into a single, vibrant ribbon of karts – the legendary Zettling Worm.

The MOKADAMO Racing Team fielded two teams this time. In addition, two more MOKADAMO drivers were loaned to the Racecraft Academy. New to the lineup was our promising young talent Lukas Heuberger – a young, charismatic driver with a lot of potential and a passion for racing.

Training and qualifying

It became clear even during training: anyone who wants to succeed here needs more than speed – it needs perspective and patience. The traffic was dense, overtaking maneuvers required precision, and every small mistake had immediate consequences. The timing of when to push and when to catch your breath determined success or stagnation.

Harald Stütz placed the number 21 kart on grid position 21 in the one-shot qualifying. Alex Röck was "only" four-tenths faster, but his number 31 kart placed him on grid position 13—significantly further up the field. The fact that starting numbers and starting positions correlate so nicely is probably only noticeable to arithmetic buffs.
Michael Zallinger, on loan to RCA pb MyCom (#4), secured a respectable 19th place on the grid.

The omen was good—as dazzling as the low morning sun. But both would have little to do with the events that followed.

The Endurance Race

MOKADAMO RT 21

Starting driver Harald Stütz was struggling. Lap after lap, other drivers caught up with him and left him standing like a warm beer. Since he couldn't have forgotten how to drive a kart overnight, there had to be other reasons. Shortly after we had mentally run through countless theories, he suddenly rolled into the pits. Diagnosis: throttle cable broken.
After a nine-lap emergency surgery, he roared back onto the track—and suddenly he was setting times worthy of his talent. But the first 60 laps had set us back a long way.

As if that weren't enough, Tobias Koini was given a drive-through penalty in the second stint. Harald had apparently assumed the stop line was further ahead than it actually was during the scheduled pit stop. Nevertheless, Tobias' consistently fast 48-second lap times brought us closer to the field. His solid performance was ultimately responsible for the good final position.

Nikolas Jeitler performed slightly below his usual level in his first two stints. Whether this was due to the karts or his mood on the day is difficult to say in retrospect. However, when in doubt, poor lap times are always a kart factor, while good lap times are a driver factor.

The highlight of the race were the final two stints, driven by Tobias Koini and Nikolas Jeitler. After receiving a lap bonus due to the throttle cable failure on the first lap, the pair closed the gap to ten seconds, over a lap behind the team in front of them.

At the end of the day, we were moderately satisfied with 17th place – but at least there is still room for improvement.

MOKADAMO RT 31

Alexander Röck had already worked his way up significantly from 13th place on the grid and was engaged in thrilling duels – until a competitor overlooked him on lap 12. Alex was on the outside after the kart school corner. However, his opponent used the entire width of the track and didn't see him beside him. The subsequent spontaneous cold deformation of the 31-inch kart looked spectacular and abruptly ended any forward movement. Alexander was left on the track, literally – or rather: under a normally firmly anchored tire stack. Our breath caught in our throats. After a few anxious seconds, we fortunately saw movement under the stack.

He managed to free himself, but the kart was stuck in the middle of the racing line – much to the chagrin of a following driver who apparently hadn't adjusted his view to "straight ahead" in time. The impact was violent: The driver slammed into the parked kart without braking, spun at a 90° angle, and used the involuntary pause to check every bone for damage. Both drivers were lucky in their misfortune and escaped without serious injuries – even though the scene looked like a helicopter was being called in.

After switching to a working kart, Alex was able to continue the race. But his injuries took their toll ( note: the consequences of the accident unfortunately turned out to be more serious than originally expected – including hospitalization ). Together with Michael Merzinger and Sandro Fortin, he launched a courageous comeback from last place – and several laps behind.

In the end, 35th place was the maximum they could achieve.

The sprint races

First of all: The sprint races were overshadowed by a serious accident in the Monaco chicane in the final segment, resulting in the race being stopped. A fierce duel between several drivers had already become apparent in the preceding laps – with jostling, fists in the air, aggressive three-way battles, and unfair maneuvers. In the end, three karts ended up in the tire wall after the chicane – a section that basically only has room for one. Three is simply two too many there. It seemed like the culmination of a personal feud – but that's not for us to judge.

What was extremely worrying, however, was that some drivers ignored the wildly gesticulating marshals and didn't slow down. At the same time, several marshals and team members ran onto the track in an overzealous need to help. This led to another serious incident when a driver—apparently completely unaware of the braking—crashed into a stationary kart.

Fortunately, those involved escaped without serious injuries. Nevertheless, we should all learn from this and remind ourselves of the track rules and proper racing behavior.

Karting is a hobby that should be fun – not a money-making scheme for trauma surgeons.

The highlights at a glance:
When the karts are on crutches, the driver can only limp around the track. Nikolas Jeitler therefore had plenty of time to quietly study the butterfly population along the track. Harald Stütz delivered a solid performance as usual. Thanks to a drive-through penalty for Tobias Koini (for an alleged overtaking maneuver under yellow in the pre-lap – which later turned out to be false), he was spared a top-five finish in the first race. Instead, he secured a sensational third place for himself and the MOKADAMO RT 21 team in the second race.

MOKADAMO RT 31 fared better: Michael Zallinger filled in for the injured Alexander Röck – and he excelled. Consistent top-10 finishes (Sandro Fortin), brilliant comebacks (Michael Merzinger), and the right karts at the right time secured the three drivers 12th place overall in the sprint. Particularly noteworthy: Michael Merzinger's 3rd place – congratulations on this strong performance, you truly deserve it!

Lukas Heuberger drove the fastest team lap and impressed with consistent times. His highlights: 9th place in qualifying and 13th place overall – including a spirited duel with a driver from the Neubacher #2 professional team. More than impressive for his first AOM race – there's still plenty to come!

Aim and conclusion

Our first season in the AOM has come to a successful conclusion. We've grown from three to ten riders, learned a lot—and unlearned a lot. We now know our strengths and weaknesses.

But most importantly, we have become a real team.
The solidarity, the friendship, the mutual support, and the relaxed, friendly togetherness are unique in the entire karting world. #mokadamour

Two podium finishes and several top-5 finishes in the sprints are our greatest sporting successes of the 2025 season.

In 2026, we'll be competing in the AOM with three teams (#21, #31, #41) – and we also want to challenge ourselves in one or two rental kart championships. If our learning curve continues to climb steeply, we'll soon be placing our pimped-up lawnmowers regularly in the top 10.

On our own behalf

We're especially proud of the friendships we've developed with other teams. They prove that fair competition and true team spirit aren't mutually exclusive. The exchange, mutual support, and shared celebrations after tough races are what keep our sport vibrant – and what motivates us to push ourselves to the limit. And yes – even getting up at 5:30 a.m. on a weekend. Thanks for the great time!

What the team principal has to say:

A huge thank you to Bernhard and Silvia – without you, a race weekend like this simply wouldn't be possible. You sacrifice your free time just to support us, ensure everything runs smoothly, and make our motorhome a true home.

Thanks also to all the accompanying people who always provide support and advice. The same goes to our sponsors, without whom many things would have simply remained "standard."

And of course, the biggest thanks go to our drivers – Tobias Koini, Harald Stütz, Michael "Merzi" Merzinger, Alexander Röck, Sandro Fortin, Michael Zallinger, and Lukas Heuberger. You are the backbone of the team: You get stuck in, build and tear down (sometimes despite injuries), are always helpful, give your all on and off the track – and remain consistently positive and cheerful.

Without you, MOKADAMO would be – well – just a misspelled nut.

 

Austrian Outdoor Masters

Styria Karting | October 10th – 12th, 2025
9 hours + 3x 3 sprints
https://www.kd2000.at/aom

MOKADAMO #21 Driver

  • Tobias Koini | AUT | Light
  • Nikolas Jeitler | AUT | Medium
  • Harald Stütz | AUT | Heavy

Sprint placings

  • Sprints 1, 4 & 7 | Light | Tobias Koini | P21 (drive-through penalty), P3, P12
  • Sprint 2, 5 & 8 | Medium | Nikolas Jeitler | P32, P22, P22 (all with low performance karts)
  • Sprints 3, 6, & 9 | Heavy | Harald Stütz | P18, P22, P16

 

MOKADAMO #31 Driver

  • Sandro Fortin | AUT | Light
  • Michael Merzinger | AUT | Medium
  • Michael Zallinger | AUT | Heavy
  • Alexander Röck | AUT | Heavy (injured)

Sprint placings

  • Sprint 1, 4 & 7 | Light | Sandro Fortin | P7, P26 (bad kart luck), P7
  • Sprints 2, 5 & 8 | Medium | Michael Merzinger | P13, P3, P15
  • Sprints 3, 6, & 9 | Heavy | Michael Zallinger | P27, P15, P20

 

OVERALL RANKING AOM 2025

MOKADAMO RT 21 20. (5 races)
MOKADAMO RT 31 35. (2 races)