Qualifying Race: 13th
Race 1: 15th
Race 2: 14th
Overall: 14th
A tough weekend in Spain is behind me. I struggled to find my rhythm all weekend and could clearly feel that my body still hasn’t fully recovered after being sick and missing valuable training. It was a weekend where I had to dig deep, but I take away the fact that things felt a little better towards the end of Race 2.
Round two of the World Championship was a difficult one for me. I actually liked the track, but I just couldn’t find the speed or flow I was looking for. More than anything, I could feel that I was lacking strength and physical endurance throughout the entire weekend.
I think that’s still a consequence of being sick before Argentina. I pushed myself to the limit there, and afterwards I wasn’t able to train much at all. It’s only been during the last week that I’ve managed to get back into training, but my body is still feeling the effects. My fitness is improving, but I simply don’t have enough training in my body yet.
Free practice was a decent start to the weekend with 8th place, but already in Time Practice I felt like I was pushing hard without finding the lap time, finishing 14th.
In the qualifying race I got a solid start, around eighth place, but I couldn’t move forward. Instead, I gradually dropped back as I struggled to find any rhythm, eventually finishing 13th. It wasn’t a terrible result, but the feeling on the bike just wasn’t there.
I was determined to have a better Sunday, but during warm-up I immediately realized how empty I felt physically. I could only push for about half a lap before my legs and arms completely ran out of energy. At that point I knew it was going to be a long day.
Race 1 started well with another good start around 7th or 8th, but on the opening lap a rider crashed in front of me and I got held up for several seconds. That dropped me well down the order, and from there it was simply about fighting through the race with very little energy. I eventually crossed the line in 15th.
Between the races I rested as much as possible and tried to recover. Unfortunately, I made life difficult for myself at the start of Race 2 by slightly double-clutching off the gate, which left me with another poor start. I was probably trying a little too hard to make something happen.
Even so, I finally started feeling a bit better as the race went on. I found a little more rhythm, maintained a steadier pace, and worked my way up to 14th. It’s still far from where I want to be, but at least the feeling on the bike—and mentally—was moving in the right direction by the end of the weekend.
It was a long and demanding GP, but hopefully another solid week of training will help me get my body back where it needs to be so I can start fighting further up the field again.
Thank you to everyone who continues to support me. Hopefully I’ll be back stronger for the next round in Switzerland.
📸 Photos: Eva Szabadfi
