ENG // MotoRC 5 – 2nd victory of the year

I was extremely motivated to make my job easier for the final round. If I won this race, it would not be mandatory to beat my main opponent in the final round in order to become champion. The track was in the same layout as it was on the 3rd round, the one that I had lost. So here came the simple question and solution. Why did I lose the 3rd race? Because I doubted myself and waited too much to make a move. I didn’t want to make the same mistake again. So I focused on getting a good start (from pole position) and showing what I could do.

The qualifying was awesome. A friend of mine helped me with the interpretation of the GPS data and we identified some places where I could gain some time. The lap time I did was a record for the reverse direction of the track. The beautiful thing is that I started to understand it more and also to better understand my strengths.

I started the race in perfect fashion. I had a good reaction and took a wide entry in the first corner. I kept up the speed and, with the clear track, I managed to open a 6-second gap. The problems started after this. I felt my right hand was blocked and in pain. Every time I wanted to brake, I had some sort of delay in the way I raised my fingers off the acceleration to catch the brake lever. Luckily, the strategy we had designed as a team was to lead the race. I had asked my father to show me the lap time of the opponent that was behind me, so that I could know when it was necessary to go faster.

But then came the difficult part for me. I had to change something so I could rest my arm. On the track, we have some areas where it is necessary to brake hard and other areas that have a flow. On the fast corners, I started to not use the brake, not even touch it. But in order to go fast you have to load the front with trail braking, to have stability. I had no feeling when entering the corners in this way. There were some delicate moments. I always looked at the difference and the lap times of my opponents. I saw that they wouldn’t gain on me too fast. As they arrived a little closer and we only had around 4 laps to the finish, I kept thinking: “They worked hard to try to catch you and you were recovering. We only have a couple of laps to go and now your arm is better, you can brake”... RED FLAG!

Another rider crashed, the race control saw that he didn’t get up right away and the organizers stopped the race; it’s a normal safety procedure.

We got back to the pits, where everybody was clapping. We had completed two thirds of the race distance, so the results were final. I led all the laps and took the victory!

I investigated the cause of my pain in a medical center and I found out I had a cyst inside my wrist that would get swollen and cause trouble. I did some different types of therapy and things are better now.

I extended my championship lead to 8 points, with one more round to go. Everything is set! The rider who caused the red flag turned out to be alright in the end. What can I say? Luck sometimes comes to the ones who lead the race!