Back in the Saddle: My Return at the Grand Prix of the Americas 🇺🇸
What a weekend. After missing pre-season and the first two rounds, making my return at a circuit like COTA, especially in mixed conditions, was always going to be a big ask. But I was ready for the challenge.
It felt great to finally be back on the bike after three months away. No pain, no discomfort, just the joy of riding again. Friday morning’s Free Practice 1 was all about reconnecting with the bike and getting back in sync with the team. The rain didn’t make things any easier, but I was just focused on finding the rhythm again. We finished the session a fair bit off the pace, but that wasn’t the main goal.
In the afternoon, conditions improved slightly and so did my lap time. We wrapped up the day in P24 with a 2’27.725, and honestly, I was pretty happy with that. Of course, I want to be fighting up the front, but after this kind of break, I knew I needed to take it step by step. With a dry track on the horizon for the rest of the weekend, I was feeling confident we’d keep building.
Saturday brought the first dry sessions of the weekend, and it was good to finally start pushing a little more. Free Practice 2 went smoothly. I got 11 laps in and finished 17th with a 2'17.597, which gave me a bit more confidence heading into qualifying.
Q1 was a bit tricky. I put in a decent banker lap early on, but we made a strategy change mid-session and unfortunately, that left me with just one flying lap to try and improve. I couldn’t quite hook it up, so I ended up qualifying 23rd for Sunday’s race. Still, just being back in the mix again was a huge step forward. I was really looking forward to racing again.
Sunday was all about experience, making laps, and building back the race sharpness, and we ticked all those boxes. My first start of 2025 didn’t go quite as planned and I ended up dead last after Turn 1, but I kept my head down and chipped away. A few crashes ahead helped us out a bit, but more importantly, I found a good rhythm and started making passes.
By halfway through the race, I was sitting in 19th and feeling more comfortable. I knew I didn’t have the aggression I needed in those opening laps, but that started to come back lap by lap. In the end, I crossed the line in 14th and picked up my first two points of the season.
It was a physically demanding race. I definitely felt the effects of not having raced in a while, but it felt so good to be back out there. The pace was solid, and this result gives me a real boost of confidence heading into the next round in Qatar.
Big thanks to the Red Bull KTM Tech3 Team for the support this weekend. Step by step, we’re getting back to where we want to be.
See you in Qatar.
