Triaworld: Hi Beni, first of all thank you for granting us this time. Undoubtedly, the first question is something that has all trial fans worried: How is your knee? Have you improved during the pre-season thanks to the treatment you told us about?
Benito Ros: Very good; Let’s see, I think that I’m going to have this problem until I retire and that it’s going to take time, but that by doing the right things I can be quite well, right now I am, but I’m not cured. It hasn’t just been the treatment, new exercises, I’ve continued to ride my bike but with control. It’s an injury that you have to have under control, it doesn’t heal, it’s that you have it and don’t crush it, that it has its rest times. If you overdo it and don’t “listen” to it, that’s when the injury will make you pay later. Now I can say that it is under control. Then the treatments they give me (which are not many) help, of course. I haven’t really stopped, so just by riding my bike I’ve been staying well physically and from now on I’ll start preparing seriously to reach the top as I always try to do.
TW: How did you prepare during the pre-season? Have you stopped or do you continue to ride your bike all year?
BR: In winter I relax more and so far I’m more or less relaxed, I’m letting myself go. I try everything I can but I don’t train with the pressure to improve more and more, if you don’t have the day you don’t kill yourself but doing this already makes you not lower your shape. From now on I will increase with the aim of getting well at the beginning, you focus is the word.
TW: Do you think it’s going to be the toughest year of your career in terms of battles? It looks like it will be a fight between Abel and you. Are you motivated more than other times by the level and difficulty of beating your biggest rival?
BR: Every year you go up a level and there is no year that has not been better than the previous one. Actually, last year, although we started badly, it ended at a high level. This year I imagine that if we already start at a good level, it will go up a little more and that’s always good. As far as rivals go, it’s not what you want, there is only one rival… I don’t really know how the rest are, I live close to Ion and he has possibilities but where you see everything is when the World Cups start.
TW: The difference is that this year you’ll both start 100%. That’s what we mean, does it make the challenge more exciting?
BR: In my case I don’t think I will reach 100%, I can’t tell you that because I always expect a little more from the season, we always try to improve, so starting at 100% means that there is no more. We can say that I will arrive fine. It’s interesting, it’s a challenge but I’ve been here for many years, I’ve also lived like this with Dani for many years and I think he’s going to run a race so I hope I don’t have a single rival.
Although I really have to agree with you, this situation makes me want to be in good shape and give everything, I don’t deny it, I tell you with conviction, although all seasons are similar, this one I think the motivation is greater because you can see that Abel is strong and it is going to be a fight like the one there was last year.
TW: How do you assess Vincent’s departure to the 26th?
BR: I wanted him to continue in 20″, I thought it was good for the category and I was happy even though he won some things but I don’t look only at that, I look at the atmosphere in the 20″ which is not good and I think it was good that he was there.
TW: What do you think about the Sky Long? Don’t you think these measures are a bit disproportionate to the usual canons?
BR: It’s not such a disproportionate bike for me, it’s true that it’s a bit opposite to my style but it’s not that disproportionate. There are more disproportionate bikes. This one is for those who have some techniques more than 26 and who do better, to shoot with arms is certainly not but it goes well.
I don’t think it’s too exaggerated, the White Sky was, but I’ve been training with it for 7 or 8 days and it’s not bad. It has good things but in my case it’s just the opposite of my style. I’ve got the handlebars back and obviously this bike and the handlebars… It’s not my style. The only thing I don’t like is that it doesn’t have a badge but I don’t classify it as weird, as I said, it’s fine.
In the last interview we did with you, you were against the use of the HS, but now you use it as a front brake. Are you considering running with “full HS” in the end? Did you do it for weight?
Let’s just say that the Sky long made me draw other conclusions. I’ve tried to take some aspects and ideas that he gave me. The HS back or crazy, I don’t understand the people who go with HS behind, I don’t understand it. To go up sideways is fine, because you can go with a v-brake, but you get into inclined rocks etc. and you are half worried that it will brake and the other half that it will pull, so I can’t walk.
It wasn’t because of weight, I imagine it will weigh less but I put it because that way everything flexes less, the disc has a margin that makes it flex but the HS makes the whole thing not move at all and this is what I wanted to achieve for the 2 strokes for example, the chops etc. But for the front you don’t need the power as much as at the rear, at the back you brake with a disc and forget everything it doesn’t matter if it’s leaning or not. I can’t stop you
I’ll run with him, but I won’t either. Actually, the type of trial we have now doesn’t make you miss modulation.
TW: You are no longer a distributor of Koxx, why is that? Is it likely to lead to a Benito-Koxx split?
BR: No, not at all. The Benito distributor and the Benito racing driver are totally different things. They have simply decided to do it that way for economic reasons and I hope it goes well. I don’t plan to leave the mark at all, for this year I’m sure I’ll continue and for next year as well.
We may even close for more years. We have never put on the table the until when, even the figure of 3 years, there are no qualms on my part or for the brand. Now it has simply changed my personal life, but I will continue to keep the trial, competition, the same. Now I’m going to dedicate myself to trial and other things.
Interview and text: Álvaro López
