Jorge Casales has announced his participation in the Andorran GP, which will be held in Sant Julià de Loire this coming weekend, August 21 and 22.
The GASGAS rider announced on July 29 his decision to take an undetermined break from the Spanish Trial Championship, after the events that took place in the Spanish Trial Championship held in Pobladura de las Regueras, where he had a strong indisposition during Sunday’s race, forcing him to retire. His own assessment was that of “an episode that affected my mental health” that prevented him from finishing the second pass through the zones.
In an interview with the Voice of Galicia, Jorge Casales himself clarified in more detail the personal and professional situation he is going through. Below we expand on this information.
A DIFFICULT 2021: CONFINEMENT, PANIC ATTACK AND AN ACCIDENT
The 2020 season was a good one in the sporting field for Casales. In the TrialGP World Championship he finished a creditable fourth place, with a total of four podiums. In the Spanish Trial Championship he achieved the runner-up position with two great victories and four podiums.
Some very positive results that, however, have a greater background for Casales, as he explained in an interview with La Voz de Galicia: “We ended up winning last season, which was physically and psychologically very good. But in training I started to feel uncomfortable with the bike. I started to fall apart.”
The first blow for Jorge came at the CET in Arteixo, where he suffered a serious accident while visiting the areas that affected his ribs and spleen, preventing him from taking the start. After his recovery came the Italian GP, where he had high expectations. Everything was cut short when he was stopped at the end of the first lap to notify him that he had tested positive in the PCR and was excluded from the competition, also preventing him from taking the start of the second day.
In Jorge’s words: “In the first race I gave a false negative for covid and I was confined in Italy. I was alone, in a hotel room, for 15 days. It affected me a lot. Then we went to another race but I wasn’t mentally prepared and it was a disaster. The results haven’t been good this season, I finished fifth or sixth when my place was on the podium. All of this has added up to a lot of pressure.”
"Esteve confined alone to a hotel room for 15 days in Italy and it affected me a lot"
THE TRIGGER: CET DE POBLADURA DE LAS REGUERAS
The confirmation that Jorge was in trouble happened at the CET in Pobladura de las Regueras, when we saw that the records of the first turn were being unusual in him.
At the end of the laphis physical condition was worrying: “At the end of the first lap I decided to stop and rest, but I started to get short of breath and collapsed. I couldn’t feel my hands, I couldn’t breathe, and the ambulance came to take me to the hospital. I don’t remember much about what happened, I went into shock. I was speechless and rolled wide. It had been an anxiety attack, due to all the accumulated stress. I was running low on oxygen and sugar, they told me, and it was time to stop.”
THE FUTURE OF JORGE CASALES
For the time being Jorge has decided to take a few weeks off to regain strength, seek professional help and regain sensations without pressure: “On August 22nd is the Trial GP World Championship in Andorra. That’s the goal, let’s see if I’m ready to face the race but I don’t put pressure on myself.”
As for GASGAS’ opinion on the matter: “This time they got it. They saw that it was a real scare, that my health was in danger, and they told me to do what I think is right and good for me.”
For Jorge Casales this has been a key and important chapter in his sporting career, so it is still too early to know how he will evolve throughout the season. From Trialworld we want to give all our support to the Galician rider, wishing him that soon he will be back enjoying training and competition, reaping great successes.
