Fallece sepultado en una avalancha joven promesa del motocross mundial /The young promise of motocross Rene Hofer dies in an avalanche
Rene Hofer, quien esquiaba cerca de Salzburgo, había finalizado sexto en el Campeonato Mundial de MX2
Salzburgo.- El piloto austriaco Rene Hofer, una de las grandes promesas del motocross mundial, falleció este sábado al ser sepultado por una avalancha cuando esquiaba con unos amigos en la ladera de la montaña Lackenspitze los Alpes, en la región de Salzburgo, reseñó motociclismo.es.
De los once esquiadores que estaban subiendo la montaña ocho se vieron arrastrados por la nieve, y tres de ellos quedaron enterrados por capas de nieve de más de cuatro metros de profundidad. Las tareas de rescate, en las que intervinieron cinco helicópteros, duraron varias horas. Solo uno de los tres pudo ser reanimado pero falleció en el hospital.
Horas después se supo que uno de los tres fallecidos era Rene Hofer, piloto de 19 años del Red Bull KTM Factory Racing en el Mundial de MX2, quien finalizó en sexta posición tras haber logrado ganar su primer GP mundialista en Pietramurata y que se postulaba como uno de los grandes favoritos al título de la categoría en 2022.
En el palmarés de Hofer destacaban el título mundial Junior de 85cc y el título europeo EMX85, ambos en 2016 con KTM, marca con la que pasó dos temporadas en el Europeo de EMX125 y una en el Europeo de EMX250 antes de saltar al Mundial de MX2 en 2020, donde tras un buen inicio se rompió el hombro izquierdo, una lesión que le hizo perder casi todo la temporada.
The young promise of motocross Rene Hofer dies in an avalanche
The motor family is in mourning again. On this occasion, due to an accident outside the competition tracks. An avalanche of snow washed away three young skiers in the Austrian Alps on Saturday, including the young rider Rene Hofer, one of the promising motocross players. Hofer, 19, was a rider for the Red Bull KTM Factory of the World Motocross2 (MX2).
According to local media, the young pilot was buried by an avalanche on Saturday around 1:45 p.m., when he was skiing with a group of 11 skiers on the side of the Lackenspitze mountain, in the Salzburg region (Austria). Of the 11 who were climbing the mountain, 8 were dragged by the snow and three of them were buried by the snow under a layer of more than 4 meters deep.
Five helicopters intervened in the rescue efforts for several hours. Only one of the three young men could be resuscitated, but he died shortly after in hospital.
Hours after the accident, it was learned that one of the three dead was the young Austrian pilot Rene Hofer, 19, a member of the Red Bull KTM Factory. In the last MX2 world championship he had been 6th, having achieved his first World Cup victory this season in Pietramurata, in Trentino. Hofer, one of the jewels of the official KTM team, was one of the title candidates in the second category of motocross for 2022.
He had competed in 25 World Championship races, with 2 podiums and 2 victories. His great career was recognized with the Ricky Carmichael award for best young driver.
Hofer had been the Junior 85cc World Champion and the 2016 EMX85 European Champion on a KTM. He made the jump to the MX2 World Championship in 2020, but a shoulder injury caused him to miss almost the entire championship.