Arenas: "I hope I’ve not forgotten how to get my knee down"

Current Moto3™ World Championship leader Albert Arenas catches up with his Aspar Team about getting back on a bike

Chatting to his Aspar Team, Moto3™ World Championship leader Albert Arenas looks ahead to getting back on a motorcycle for the first time in over two months, as well as Dorna’s proposed season start and much more.

Dorna has put in place a plan to restart the championship on July 19 in Jerez. If approved, we would be less than two months away for the restart of the season. How does it feel to hear that?

"It motivates me a lot. It motivates to see that everything is beginning to activate, that Dorna are doing everything that’s in their hands to resume the championship as soon as possible. I really want to compete again, although there is still some uncertainty, but you have to try to live with it right now."

Do you still feel the energy from the Qatar GP victory?

"That remains forever, it is a victory that I will always remember. We celebrated it, the sensations were incredible, but we were already thinking about the next race. In a normal situation we would have had to fly to Thailand, where I won in 2019, and where we would have arrived with a lot of energy, after the victory in Qatar, but also after the preseason that we had done. Now I just try to live in the moment."

How does a rider prepare to return to the track after being so long without races? You said in March, after the Qatar race, that you already had a good pace and you would not need to adapt to a new bike either.

"Being so long without races is especially difficult due to the absence of adrenaline. Being confined at home, sometimes I would go up the wall, I suppose, like everyone, since we were all in the same situation. I have tried to keep as active as possible, but we have been competing for many years and I hope I have not forgotten how to get my knee down."

Do you remember the last time you spent more than two months without getting on a bike?

"I don't remember, honestly. I do remember last year being 50 days without getting on the bike due to the spleen injury that I had at the beginning of the season. In this period, we have tried to work watching previous races and riding a stationary bicycle, which, although it has nothing to do with riding a motorcycle, is helping me to prepare the return to competition very well."

It’s been already two months without getting on a motorcycle, but a few weeks ago you participated in the first virtual Moto3 race. What makes you more nervous, a real or a virtual race?

"The truth is that it was a very nice thing to compete in the virtual Grand Prix and to feel that competitive edge again after so long. In the videogame you do not have everything as controlled as in reality, you are more nervous about it, because you do not completely control how it works, when and how to push harder... it was a different kind of nerves, not wanting to fail, but the competitiveness between the riders was the same."

July 19 is the proposed date for the World Championship to start again, but you would start with 25 points. What is the strategy from now on?

"You can’t think much about a strategy right now because it will be like another season, although it is true that I will start it with 25 more points. I'm not going to think about that, but about picking up the pace and the sensations, in working the best we can, to enjoy the sensations that we had in Qatar."

The restrictions have begun to be lifted and riders are already allowed to train outside or with their bikes. How have the training sessions been so far and how do you plan on the next training sessions?

"Above all, I have been preparing myself with a stationary bike and with gym equipment that I had at home. Now it's time to start organizing the first motorcycle training. I really want to do it, but I want to do it well and make it something that works for me, not a risky training session just to get rid of the bike withdrawal symptoms. I don't want to rush, there are still almost two months to go back to the competition and I want it to be as productive as possible."

It's been months of fighting against the virus and there have been hard times, especially for all the doctors and essential personnel who have been in the front row, working non-stop. What would you say to them?

"The situation we are going through has been very hard, we all know, but we have seen many signs of tireless work and solidarity on the part of the health workers and the essential personnel, who have risked their lives to try and solve it and for this I want to thank them. I am glad that this situation has also brought out the best in us, and that many, like us athletes or people from many fields, have tried to collaborate from our possibilities. Solidarity can also unite us all more and help us move forward. Now it is up to all of us to act correctly so as not to take steps back."

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