Albert Cabestany is facing one of the most exciting challenges of his sporting career. Now retired as a rider, he has the confidence of GasGas to lead the competition team and transfer a sporting experience of more than two decades to a young team, with potential, but with the need to offer results at the level expected by a large multinational like KTM.
How are you facing this new season that begins imminently at GasGas?
We are very motivated, we have started the year very well after a long winter where it seemed that the start of the season did not arrive. The team is new, although with experience in the world, with renewed mechanics, the team manager and the incorporation of Miquel Gelabert as an official driver. The debut with victory in the Spanish Championship has been very positive, apart from the controversies with the regulations.
How is the bike evolving in this new stage of KTM compared to Torrot’s?
In my previous stage I was focused on the GasGas electric motorcycle project and I was not very aware of what was happening in the field of the development of petrol motorcycles.
Now we are experiencing KTM’s approach in the group, as people started arriving when the whole Covid19 crisis broke out, around March last year, so this made it difficult to make contact. The current product and the points of evolution for the future are now well known.
KTM is betting on electric offroading, do you think they will boost the TXT-E?
I know that they are working in the electrical field, as shown by what they are doing in the field of children’s offroading, with the desire to do things well. And just like in the previous question, they now have the information on the strengths and weaknesses of the current GasGas TXT-E to make decisions for the near future.
What aspects are you working on as Team Manager of the GasGas Trial team?
We try to be as complete as possible. Now I’m in the process of getting into the situation of the new role and also into the situation of the pilot, understanding them perfectly and helping them in everything necessary. Aspects such as being very clear about the regulations, the logistical issue for example of the meals, which come from the origin in catering format, professional mechanics at the service of the pilots. These are small aspects, but they help us to be aligned with the whole team.
What are the sporting goals for 2021?
Except for the surprise of Toni’s injury, which is still unknown, and looking at the information with which we started, with Jorge doing very well last season and Miquel already fully adapted to the GasGas, we have to be fighting for the podium in all the championships.
In the National Trial Championship our goal is to win and in the World Championship to achieve a podium in the classification at the end of the year. We have two riders with a lot of desire and solvency, with a very healthy rivalry between years, promoting teamwork in a collaborative way. In other words, if there is rivalry between teammates, let it be healthy.
As for the official bikes, what do you work on?
In my case, as a Team Manager, I focus more on the technical side of the production bikes. And from there there are things that are evolved or tested on racing bikes, but they are the ones who end up defining the setup of their bikes. Gelabert, for example, is very aggressive in riding, while Casales is more physical and technical. I try to guide them to get the most out of their riding style.
