F Barel's retirement and last race crowned by the silver medal of his young rider D. Spagnolo

Fabien BAREL’s words:

I could not imagine a better weekend. 2 weeks ago when I broke my ribs, everything was looking complicate for the end of the season. But the team and my motivation was right up there. 4 years ago, when I started the Mondraker factory team, the main goal was to share my experience with younger riders to pass on my knowledge and understanding of the sport. The reason, I chose Damien on this program was not only for his riding skills but for his determination and mental potential. We have been working on all aspects of the sports and developed a strong philosophy and approach to racing. This weekend Damien’s level of focus was such that nobody could distract him from his goal. This success was an unreal satisfaction for me as a team manager and sincerely felt like a real achievement.

On my side, I managed to pull out a TOP 10 with 4 broken ribs. For The second half of track, the pain was almost unbearable . But the crowd and the atmosphere on the side track was an amazing feeling. The sound of the public carry me to the finish with an unreal ovation. I sincerely thanks everyone for this positive energy as he really felt that I have been able to bring everything to the end.

I sincerely like to thanks for their confidence during those 4 years the MONDRAKER family (Paco, Miguel, Paz, Luis, Alex, Gerben, Patrick,…), MOJO Suspension (Chris and Susie), LES GETS Bike park (Henri, Christophe, Flora, Chrystel, Ben, Thomas,….), BOLLE eyewear (Guilhem, Alex), KENNY (Pierre, Nico, Antoine), FORMULA Brakes (Andrea, Arnaud, Otto and all family), URGE and BRAKE AUTHORITY (Fred, Lolo, Poulet), MAVIC (Bernard, Francois, Thomas et toute l’équipe), E-Thirteen The HIVE (Mickael, Chris, Joel), RENTHAL (Ian and Rees), WTB (Mark, Patrick, Peter and the all crew), EVOC bags (Jan, Bernd and Olga), SRAM (to the all tech support).

RACE REPORT

After a week of dry conditions Sunday morning turned the steepest track in the circuit to the wettest also, the rain poured all day and the mist even prevented the rescue helicopter from flying. Fabien had broken 4 ribs 2 weeks before so had been playing it safe all week in the training making sure he did not fall, this had left him with a huge challenge to pull out a fast race run when he had not been able to train at full speed. He managed it perfectly, controlling his run and his breathing down the track to finish in 10th Place and close out his season and career with a very respectable result.

For Damien it was a different story, he had prepared all year for this race as he knew he could do well and the pressure was weighing heavily on his shoulders to perform. The week had gone perfectly for him, from the first day of training he was already feeling good on the bike and set in his lines, he picked up the pace day by day and had a good timed run on Friday despite a small crash, showing he was on the pace. The only thing left to decide on race day was the tyre choice, he decided to wait until the last minute to make his decision and it was the right one! He pulled out an amazing run, hitting his lines with speed and precision to take the hot seat but with 15 riders left he was nervous! He kept his top spot almost all the way to the end of the race and all of the big names fail to beat his time, only one person went faster (Danny Hart). Damien was overwhelmed with his second and felt proud to be able to take over where his team-mate Fabien left off.