Honda Montesa starts in Zelhem with a fifth place
ZelhemMiquel Gelabert secures a remarkable third place in Race 1 and maintains his fifth position in the World Championship standings with 235 points.
The Honda Montesa team completed the first day of the TrialGP of the Netherlands on Saturday, held in Zelhem. Miquel Gelabert and the RTL Electric team faced a complex and challenging course with the aim of returning to the fight for the top positions.
The day began with 'Race 1', where Miquel Gelabert delivered a solid performance. The RTL Electric rider completed seven of the twelve sections without picking up penalties and, despite receiving three fiascos in sections 1, 5, and 7, maintained a competitive pace. The Montesa Honda rider finished the first race in third place with 18 penalty points, just one point behind second-placed Jaime Busto. In 'Super Pole', the round that determined the starting order for 'Race 2', Gelabert completed the section without any penalties and set a time of 0:31.64, putting him sixth.
In 'Race 2', Gelabert struggled more than he had expected. The RTL Electric rider started the lap with a good feeling, but after several penalties, he lost ground to the leaders. The level of his rivals and the difficulty of the final sections of the course prevented him from regaining his form, and he ultimately accumulated 27 penalty points, finishing in sixth place.
After achieving a third-place finish in 'Race 1' and a sixth-place finish in 'Race 2', Miquel Gelabert ended the first day of competition in Zelhem in fifth position in the combined standings. With this result, the RTL Electric rider now has 235 points and maintains fifth place in the overall World Championship standings. On Saturday, Honda Montesa will be back in action for the second and final day of the Netherlands TrialGP.
"I had a really good feeling in both races. To be honest, I was a bit nervous in the second one, and this format doesn't really help me. On the first lap, I felt really comfortable on the bike and very confident, and we rode our race. On the second lap, we tried to do the same, but there were some tricky sections where it was very easy to make mistakes. I'm happy; we worked really well, and we have to keep pushing, having confidence, and working in this direction. Tomorrow's goal is to try and get on the podium, but we have to take things one section at a time."
"I had a really good feeling in both races. To be honest, I was a bit nervous in the second one, and this format doesn't really help me. On the first lap, I felt really comfortable on the bike and very confident, and we rode our race. On the second lap, we tried to do the same, but there were some tricky sections where it was very easy to make mistakes. I'm happy; we worked really well, and we have to keep pushing, having confidence, and working in this direction. Tomorrow's goal is to try and get on the podium, but we have to take things one section at a time."
“In the first race, Miquel managed to stay focused despite the fiasco on the first section. From then on, he reacted very well, tackling each part of the course solidly and staying in contention until the end to secure third place. In the second race, we struggled a bit more. An unexpected mistake on section 3 affected us in the following sections, and the fiasco on section 10 also hurt our performance. Even so, we're satisfied because Miquel is riding at a very high level, and we know that if we continue working like this, a good result will come. Tomorrow, the objective is clear: to fight for the podium.”
“In the first race, Miquel managed to stay focused despite the fiasco on the first section. From then on, he reacted very well, tackling each part of the course solidly and staying in contention until the end to secure third place. In the second race, we struggled a bit more. An unexpected mistake on section 3 affected us in the following sections, and the fiasco on section 10 also hurt our performance. Even so, we're satisfied because Miquel is riding at a very high level, and we know that if we continue working like this, a good result will come. Tomorrow, the objective is clear: to fight for the podium.”
