Gelabert closes weekend in Japan with second podium

The Honda Montesa rider overcomes the difficult terrain to take third place.

Mobility Resort Motegi was the setting for the eleventh and twelfth rounds of the Trial2 World Championship season this weekend. Saturday’s heavy rain left some very difficult sections for the riders on the second day of competition. Just as he did on the previous day, Miquel Gelabert managed to place on the rostrum at Honda’s home round.

The RTL Electric rider started the day by dropping several fives, as the slippery rocks and muddy sections posed a tough challenge. But as the event progressed, he gained confidence with the bike and improved his performance in front of the Japanese fans. Tied with one of his main rivals, Harry Hemingway, on a total of 35 points and just one point behind the leader, Gelabert finished the first race in third place, earning him 15 points in the overall standings.

For the second race, the conditions and the difficulty of the sections remained the big factor. However, despite a difficult start, he produced his best performance to salvage fourth. After stringing together several zeros midway through the race, a couple of errors in the final sections relegated him to fourth place when he was fighting for the win. However, in the end the Honda Montesa rider finished fourth in the second race of the day, third in the combined and his second podium of the weekend.

After third and fourth places on Day 2, Gelabert maintains third place in the championship standings with a total of 162 points. The Honda rider will compete at the French Trial GP from May 30th to June 1st in Calvi, Corsica.