125cc contender Gadea not focusing on title chance

An experienced face in the 125cc class, Sergio Gadea had established himself as a solid ‘second tier’ rider in the category over the past few seasons. The third rider in the dominant Aspar team of 2007, the Spaniard took the back seat to the title fight between Gabor Talmacsi and Héctor Faubel, and a disastrous 2008 season (save for victory in the opening race of the year) left some hard questions being asked about Gadea’s Grand Prix future.

Given a final chance by Jorge Martinez ‘Aspar’, the young star is now in the thick of the battle for the 2009 World Championship. A win at the Alice TT Assen solidified his credentials and placed him 20 points behind series leader and teammate Julián Simón, and Gadea is back having fun as a competitive rider.

“I’m not thinking about the title at the moment,” he said this week whilst enjoying the extended break for the 125cc competitors between the last round and the upcoming Sachsenring race.

“My plan is to continue achieving short term goals and at the moment I am enjoying riding as much as a little kid. I’ve got the spark that I lost last year back, and it’s a great feeling. Time will tell if I can win the World Championship and, if not, then I will have at least had a year to remember for the rest of my life.”

If Gadea is to take the title, then he will have to stave off the challenges of teammates Simón and Bradley Smith, in addition to Italian star Andrea Iannone. Relations soured between Talmacsi and Faubel in the 2007 season but, for the time being at least, there is a united front in the Bancaja Aspar outfit.

“The atmosphere in the garage is really good. Personally I focus on my job with the mechanics and don’t think about too much else. Julián and Bradley likewise. That’s the only way to get results: work hard and don’t lose concentration,” Gadea explained.

“All of us in the front four are trying to be as consistent as possible. Smith has proven to be tough, and he knows when to go for the win and how to settle for the best possible finish. Julián is very fast and has adapted to the change in class, and I suppose that the difference between him and us would be bigger had he not made some mistakes. Iannone is as fast as he is aggressive, but has also made some costly errors.

The 125cc class returns to action at the Alice Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland next weekend, a race where Gadea has only once finished inside the top ten –back in 2006.