Last weekend saw the event that would crown the new Spanish Champions. The competition was held in Pedro Bernardo (Ávila) and we went there in order to follow it. We parked in Pedro Bernardo at 10 in the morning, a really nice place but with some access to get around in WRC rather than in a car or caravan. From early in the morning you could sense that the day was going to be hot.
Elite Ranking
We arrived during the elite qualifier during which The seniors were faced with a really technical and even dangerous route. The results of this test were more or less as expected with Rafa Tibau finishing at the top of the standings followed by Juan Pedro García and Gerard Aguilar.
The other three places to access the elite final went to the rider from Castilla y León, Pablo Bravo, who had a good race showing a great level and finesse. He was followed by Juanda de la Peña and finally Raúl Martinez. The zones and the heat showed some of the qualified riders really exhausted and with serious doubts about their performance in the elite final that they would dispute about 3 hours later.
Junior/Cadet
The next categories were Junior and Cadet. We focused on the Junior and more specifically on Jose Manuel Tudela,who has been our friend for a long time and a rider with a great projection who was aiming for victory. The sections were quite high and very long, which led to time penalties for most of the riders.
Jose, despite exhibiting a great level, made some mistakes due to nerves that led him to fight for the podium instead of for the victory. At the end of the last lap he suffered some physical problems in his left leg that we tried to solve but that finally made him in 4th position, just a foot behind the third. Without a doubt, a shame for the rider from Murcia who will soon be with the greatest.
In the cadet category, the podium went to Oriol Roca 1st, Sergi Llongueras 2nd and Joan Torres 3rd. In junior finally the podium went to Eloi aré 1st, Bernat Seuba 2nd and Joan Torres 3rd.
Elite
The elite teams were warming up and the line-up of the race was really spectacular. To the 6 riders classified after racing in senior, we had to add the names of Benito Ros, Abel Mustieles, Ion Areitio and Joan Figueras. Without a doubt, it promised to be an exciting race where a priori it would be Benito and Abel who would fight for the victory and where the third position was very open.
During the warm-up, Benito could be seen concentrating on performing several specific exercises to warm up the leg in which he has been dragging physical problems and a really powerful Abel climbing some really brutal rocks. The race began and unfortunately for the show, it would quickly turn to the face of “The Beast”.
Abel Mustieles began to suffer from problems in his recently operated hand and did not have the strength to stop. The situation was getting worse and added to the heat and nerves there were moments of great tension, all motivated by the desire with which Abel arrived at the test but where he was not being able to give the top. Undoubtedly , this injury was not only disastrous for his aspirations to victory, but also for his safety, since in a trial where there are some descents to take away the hiccups, losing the rear brake can be fatal.
In the end, it became more of a fight to get through each zone and secure second place than to fight with a Benito who already saw himself with the title in his pocket. For his part, Benito carried out a test with a lot of head, without too many risks at the end of the second lap he was already comfortable and with a small advantage with which to face the end of the race in a more bearable way.
This advantage even made him dare to take on some complicated steps and he managed to get the most out of it.A really brutal third lap was going on. Little more can be said of a man who he has already won 10 Spanish Championships. The Fight for the The third step of the podium was between Ion Areitio and Rafa Tibau, with the Basque being the one who finally took “the cat to the water”. Behind, it is worth highlighting the finesse of Pablo Bravo and some names such as Juan Pedro or Gerard Aguilar who had a great 5th place and the mechanical problem he suffered Juan Figueras who made him finish in 10th position.
Text and photos: Álvaro López
