It’s been a month-long road to recovery since the cycling accident that ruled Albert Arenas (Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team) out of the Gran Premio Motul de la Republica Argentina.
The young Spanish rider is, however, set to return to the Moto3™ grid for the Gran Premio Red Bull de España, in Jerez, and took time out of his preparations to speak with motogp.com.
It will be good to see you back on-track at Jerez. First of all how are you and how was the recovery?
Right now I’m happy. There have been some tough days, but now I’m happy to know that I’m okay and will be able to race in Jerez, no problem. On Tuesday, they did my last CAT scan, which showed I’ll be ready for Jerez.
Esto ya ha acabado!!! En 10 días de vuelta con mi equipo @angelnietoteam en Jerez???????????????????????????????? vamossssss
— Albert Arenas (@AlbertArenas75) 23 de abril de 2019
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Gracias a todos por vuestro apoyo durante estos días, gracias al Dr. Charte, Dr. Muchart, Dr. Mir y a la Dexeus!!! ????????✊???? pic.twitter.com/QX9XtY6TAm
Before we look too far to the future, can you explain what happened in the accident? There was very little information and many fans were concerned.
I met with Alex Rins to go cycling, it was the last training before heading to Argentina. We left home and got to a roundabout, just up the road, and hit a bump, a drain, that was sunk into the road and I didn’t see it. I was looking ahead to where I was going. Suddenly, the handlebar twisted and I spun, flipped and the bike dug into my side. There were scratches but the impact was really hard. I thought I was okay, but I was struggling to breath and didn’t feel well.
From there the doctors did scare me – well, me and everyone – because a spleen injury, whether you like it or not, is always an emergency. I kind of went into shock when they told me because, of course, I thought I was going to Argentina the next day.
They told me, “You have to stay here because we have to operate on you.” From falling off my bike to when I went to hospital, everything was really weird; it hurt, but I didn’t know exactly what was going on…. But once I was there, the doctors did a great job, from the moment I stepped into A&E.
At what level of fitness do you expect to be in Jerez?
Really, it’s the fractured rib that bothers me most, and I don’t know how it will be on a motorbike because I’m yet to try. I’m going to train as if I were getting back to 100 percent. As of now, I’m doing everything as if it were normal to try to be as near to 100 percent as possible. On Friday, when I get back on a bike, I will really see how I feel. But the objective is to be 100 percent in Jerez.
Five days ago I started training again, especially swimming which is something that I didn’t use to do and I’ve actually liked it. I’ve been doing lots of swimming to keep fit, but very relaxed and now I will increase the intensity.
Qatar was a good starting point for you; sixth in the race, eight tenths behind the winner. Masia and Canet are both at 35 points. Do you think you’re still in the Championship fight?
Yeah, I like the sound of it. It’s clear that I can comeback from this, but I need to keep in mind that I won’t catch up in just one race, nor two. I need to go little by little and not get disillusioned. I think that I need to keep at it, that it is possible and I can come back, but the important thing is to be in Jerez feeling like I did in Qatar, that’s what I’m focused on now because, in the end, it wasn’t an injury from making a mistake on a motorbike, but something that could have happened to anyone. But the truth is that I’ve recovered as fast as I could to go back to fighting at the limit.