X-TRIAL: SPAIN SUPER SHOW

Call it whatever you want, but one thing is for sure, the paying public still loves to see a super show of our top trials riders performing indoors, which was further endorsed at the opening round of the 2023 FIM X-Trial World Championship in a packed stadium. Due to our tight print deadlines, we will focus on two opening rounds: Spain and Austria. Round three at Pamplona, Spain, unfortunately just missed our deadline for print. As Toni Bou demolished the opposition in Spain, we still have quite a fight on our hands in the stakes for the world championship. The 2023 FIM X-Trial World Championship will be contested over eight proposed rounds: Barcelona (Spain), Wiener Neustadt (Austria), Pamplona (Spain), Bordeaux (France), La Vella (Andorra), Madrid (Spain), [to be confirmed] (France), before concluding at La Reunion Island (France).

Article: Trial Magazine

Bou In Charge

Without a doubt, Spain’s Toni Bou and the fourstroke Repsol Honda are the undisputed kings of the indoor trials with his 16 FIM X-Trial World Championships. The Palau Sant Jordi stadium is located at the very top of the famous Montjuic Park, high above the bright lights of the city of Barcelona, Spain, and in this same arena, Bou has a record that is second to none. His first win in 2006 as a rising young rider saw him win on the two-stroke Italian Beta before his move in 2007 to Repsol Honda Team and four-stroke power. He backed up his first win again in 2007, and since then, he has only been defeated twice by his oldest rival, Adam Raga, in 2008 on the Gas Gas and in 2019 on the TRRS.

Bou would be looking at a 17th consecutive FIM X-Trial world title as he faced eight strong fellow riders at the opening round made up of Adam Raga (TRRS-ESP), Jaime Busto (GASGAS-ESP), Matteo Grattarola (Vertigo-ESP), Benoit Bincaz (ShercoFRA), Gabriel Marcelli (Repsol Honda-ESP), Toby Martyn (Montesa Honda UK-GBR) and Sondre Haga (GASGAS-NOR) joined by the event ‘Wild Card’ Jeroni Fajardo (Sherco-ESP).

Changes

A total of five riders would be making their X-Trial World Championship debuts in new team colours after they moved manufacturers for the start of the 2023 season.

Jaime Busto returns to GASGAS, a team he has won with before, to be joined by Norway’s 2022 FIM Trial2 World Champion Sondre Haga. French rider Benoit Bincaz moves from GASGAS to join Sherco. Italy’s Matteo Grattarola leaves his ‘home’ manufacturer Beta hoping to carry the form that took him to fourth last year on the Spanish Vertigo.

Great Britain’s exciting young rider Toby Martyn format was successfully introduced in 2022. After it worked well, it was further fine-tuned for 2023. The format consists of a starting entry of nine riders who would compete for the three-rider final over two opening laps. On the first lap, the nine participating riders have to complete over five sections in five minutes, while on the second lap, they must complete five sections in four minutes. Then, the scores from both laps, also taking in the time element, are added together, and the three best riders compete in the final over six sections. selection of sections constructed from giant concrete mouldings, steel drums and some huge cable reels made of wood.

The final Montesa Honda section was made of steel structures starting from the arena floor before winding up into the integration with the spectators high in the stadium seating!

With a super sound system and light show, it was time for some action, which would also be displayed from the huge screens hanging from the stadium roof. It was action from the word go as the huge near-

Busto moved into an early lead, recording a good time at 3:28.0 in front of Adam Raga on three marks and a time of 3:58.4. Toni Bou was next on a single five from the step at section one and a time of 3:06.5. Marcelli had got up the step. Still, his face showed the full extent of his pain from a crash just two weeks earlier at an invitation indoor, resulting in a badly swollen knee. As it turned out, a very battered Matteo Grattarola from a mid-week practice crash set the fastest time, but he stopped in three of the five sections.

Bou Makes His Move

Despite having already had one attempt at the opening section, once again, it became the Achilles heel of seven of the nine riders as just the two Repsol Honda team riders, Bou and Marcelli, made the ends cards — Bou with a single-mark loss and Marcelli who parted with two marks.

The time element came into play to decide the final rider for the final as Busto set a better time, beating Jeroni Fajardo by just three seconds. Would Toni Bou be beaten in Barcelona by his two younger Spanish rivals?

The tension in the crowd was so hot, adding to the excitement in the arena as the final started. Marcelli was the first rider out, and he hit the step in section one with all he had from himself and the Repsol Honda, and he was up, passing through the ends cards with a three-mark loss. Busto tried the same approach as Bou, but he and his bike crashed back down; Marcelli was leading.

Section two held no hidden dangers, and three clean rides were recorded. Toni Bou, under pressure, is another entity, and he soon had it all under control when both his rivals stopped in the third section as he rode through with a very calm approach, with just a single mark lost to gain the advantage. Soon it was Marcelli who was under pressure as he stopped in section four, followed by a stop from Busto in section six as Bou again parted with just one more mark in section five. As Busto stopped in the final section, he gifted Marcelli the well-deserved runner-up spot as the main man Toni Bou celebrated yet another victory in the Cathedral of Dreams, the Palau Sant Jordi stadium in Barcelona.

2023 FIM X-TRIAL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

ROUND 1: BARCELONA, SPAIN

FINAL: 1: Toni Bou (Repsol Honda-ESP) 7; Gabriel Marcelli (Repsol Honda-ESP) 13; 3: Jaime Busto (GASGAS-ESP) 17.

ROUND 2: 1: Toni Bou (Repsol Honda-ESP) 1; 2: Gabriel Marcelli (Repsol Honda-ESP) 2; 3: Jaime Busto (GASGAS-ESP) 5; 4: Jeroni Fajardo (ShercoESP) 5; 5: Benoit Bincaz (Sherco-ESP) 5; 6: Adam Raga (TRRS-ESP) 6; 7: Toby Martyn (Montesa Honda UK-GBR) 6; 8: Matteo Grattarola (VertigoITA) 6; 9: Sondre Haga (GASGAS-NOR) 8.

ROUND 1: 1: Jaime Busto (GASGAS-ESP) 1; 2: Adam Raga (TRRS-ESP) 3; 3: Toni Bou (Repsol Honda-ESP) 5; 4: Toby Martyn (Montesa Honda UK-GBR) 5; 5: Jeroni Fajardo (Sherco-ESP) 5; 6: Benoit Bincaz (Sherco-ESP) 6; 7: Gabriel Marcelli (Repsol Honda-ESP) 7; 8: Sondre Haga (GASGASNOR) 9; 9: Matteo Grattarola (Vertigo-ITA) 15.