After almost 20 years apart we are extremely excited to announce the new 2024 MS-INTENSE-RACING team of David Trummer (AUT), Eleonora Farina (ITA), Jacob Dickson (IRL) and Tuhoto Ariki Pene (NZ). Founded back in 2004 MS Racing has run continuously as a World Cup Downhill team and is one of the most respected and successful on the circuit.
MS-RACING and INTENSE go back a long way, it’s a relationship that began in the late 1990s when INTENSE Founder and CEO Jeff Steber started supporting a downhill racer from Austria called Max Stöckl (the MS of MS-RACING). That relationship (and a new team headed up by Team Manager Lukas Haider), flourished in the mid to late two-thousands with the formation of the MS-INTENSE race team. Now, almost two decades after the original team, the MS-INTENSE-RACING team is reborn.
This year really feels like a return to our roots. Max and Lukas have developed such a successful and professional program over the years, and we are proud that they have chosen to work with INTENSE again. I’m very excited to see the new M1 under such a talented group of riders. It’s going to be a great season!”
Jeff Steber, INTENSE
The 2024 Line-up
JACOB
DICKSON
“It’s super cool to be racing on an iconic brand like INTENSE. When I think of INTENSE I think of Shaun Palmer making downhill ‘class’, and Jack Moir when he had his breakthrough season. I can’t wait to get racing on the new M1.”
ELEONORA
FARINA
“Being on INTENSE this season is so exciting for me. After eight years racing on the same bike brand, changing and working with a new frame is going to be really interesting. Actually I can’t wait to get my hands on the new bike and start riding it.”
DAVID
TRUMMER
“INTENSE and the former IFR team have been working very hard on the new M1 bike. After our first tests it was obvious how much thought and racer experience went into it. I am excited to race downhill this season, and being on such a historical brand as INTENSE is an honor.”
TUHOTO
ARIKI PENE
“Yeah hard! Keen as to see what it’s all about. I’ve heard nothing but good talk about INTENSE. Pretty cool to work with some new bros and see what they have to offer, and to hopefully show them what I have too. But yeah keen as, Chur.”
The 2024 sponsor lineup includes INTENSE frames, Michelin tires, SHIMANO drivetrain and brakes, SDG saddles and seat posts, long term partners e*thirteen for wheels and chain guides, Renthal for cockpit components and Kenny Racing as a new clothing partner.
Downhill is a tough sport, and it’s fair to say that 2023 was a difficult season for MS-RACING. A series of injures kept almost all of the team riders sidelined and off their bikes. David Trummer (compressed discs in his back requiring surgery), Eleonora Farina (broken collarbone, broken hand, concussion), Jacob Dickson (concussion at the end of 2022, followed by a car accident in ‘23). Tuhoto Ariki Pene did stay injury free and won the 2023 King of Crankworx Whistler title, and even though Eleonora was injured for almost all of the 2023 season, she won the European Championships title and took fifth place at the Andorra World Cup.
We all know that the bicycle industry is going through a bit of a crisis at the moment, and looking for a new partner was always going to be difficult, but honestly it’s so cool to be back with INTENSE again after so many years. Jeff and I go way back to my early race days, and I can’t think of a better brand to be working with, especially with the new M1, which has already proven to be an amazing bike. Everyone involved with MS, from the riders, mechanics and backroom staff, are looking forward to this new era and a successful partnership for years to come.”
Max Stöckl, Team Owner
MS-INTENSE HISTORY
The original 2005 MS-INTENSE team lineup already had some big names in it, including Claudio Caluori and Petra Bernhard. Then in 2006 things got really serious when the mighty Chris Kovarik joined and the team was renamed MS-INTENSE-FACTORY-RACING. He was quickly followed by Vanessa Quin, Mio Suemasa, Matti Lehikoinen, Anneke Beerten, JD Swanguen… the list goes on. In 2006 Kovarik won his and INTENSE’s last (male) World Cup in Mont-Sainte-Anne riding on the MS team, in 2007 Max set the World Speed record for a stock bike on an INTENSE M6, and in 2008 the team won the World Cup 4X team overall. In 2008 this chapter of the MS-RACING and INTENSE story ended.
MS-RACING has over 20 years of World Cup race experience, and has had some great results. Gold and silver medals at the 2016 World Championships in Val di Sole with Danny Hart and Laurie Greenland. Silver medal at the 2010 World Champs in Mont-Sainte-Anne for Stevie Smith. Brook MacDonald, Laurie Greenland and Danny Hart all had their first World Cup victories when they were on the MS-RACING team. There are too many to list here, but the team is no stranger to the podium.
This MS-INTENSE-RACING team is packed with talent, and 2024 will mark a new beginning. After many years apart MS-INTENSE-RACING is once again a World Cup force.