The 2023 X-Trial World Championship has entered its final stretch with the celebration of the last three rounds, the first of them in Andorra, a very special place for Toni Bou as it is his country of residence.
The rider from Montesa already had the 2023 title very focused, after the X-Trial in Andorra, where he added his fourth victory of the season, increasing his lead at the head of the general standings by five points. At the moment, with just over fifty points left to play, Toni has a twenty-five lead over Jaime Busto, so he could be proclaimed World Champion 2023 at the X-Trial in Madrid.
Jaime Busto was second in Andorra and is the only rider who can mathematically abort Bou’s title. The podium was completed by Gabriel Marcelli, who consolidates third position overall, increasing his gap to Raga, who was sixth in Andorra.
Toni Bou (Repsol Honda Trial Team) has achieved all the goals he set for himself ahead of the visit of the FIM X-Trial World Championship to Andorra la Vella. They got the victory, they did it in front of their fans and in this way, they started the second part of the season in an unbeatable way, which has resumed in the Andorran capital after the summer break.
The 16-time X-Trial World Champion dominated the final alongside Gabriel Marcelli (Repsol Honda Trial Team) and Jaime Busto (GasGas). In the first two zones he has already made it clear that the victory would be for him because he has accumulated 4 points to the 10 of his rivals. And the mathematical triumph has come in the fourth section because while Marcelli and Busto accumulated 20 points, he added 9.
From that moment on, the interest has focused on who would be second and Busto has taken the cat to the water by penalizing one point in the last section to Marcelli’s five. After the three occupants of the podium, the fight for fourth place has been very close with Aniol Gelabert (Beta) scoring the same 25 final points as Bincaz (Sherco) but ahead of him in the final classification.
Behind them was Adam Raga (TRRS) who, in the second round, lost all chance of entering the final.
Toby Martyn (Montesa), Matteo Grattarola (Beta) and rookie Billy Green (Scorpa) took the bottom three places in the standings.
X-TRIAL ANDORRA CLASSIFICATION
Andorra - X-Trial 2023
- TONI BOU (MONTESA)
- JAIME BUSTO (GASGAS)
- GABRIEL MARCELLI (MONTESA)
- ANIOL GELABERT (BETA)
- BENOIT BINCAZ (SHERCO)
- ADAM RAGA (TRRS)
- TOBY MARTYN (MONTESA)
- MATTEO GRATTAROLA (VERTIGO)
- BILLY GREEN (SCORPA)
CAREER STATEMENTS
toni bou (P1)"To start the second part of the season with a win, to do it in Andorra la Vella and riding like I did in the second round and the final is the best thing that could happen to me today. The final was really demanding, but I think I rode at a high level. In fact, after changing bikes after the first round I felt much better and this showed in my performance afterwards."
Jaime Busto (P2)"I'm happy to keep staying on the podium and to have achieved this second place. Consistency was something I lacked last season and this season I'm being much more consistent. The goal now is to achieve some more victories. Today was a tough test, especially in the final."
Gabriel Marcelli (P3)"I'm happy for third place, for having added a new podium and for having had a chance to qualify second until the last section. I felt very good throughout the race despite the fact that the final was really demanding. In the first two rounds I think I rode at a high level."
Video x-trial andorra 2023
2023 X-Trial World Championship Calendar
- X-TRIAL BARCELONA - SPAIN - 5 February
- x-trial WIENER NEUSTADT - austria - 11 MARCH
- X-Trial Pamplona - Spain - 25 March
- X-trial Bordeaux - FRANCE - 7 April
- x-trial ANDORRA LA VELLA - 7 October
- x-trial MADRID - SPAIN - 4 November
- x-trial tba FRANCE - 11 November
- X-Trial Nations - Reunion Island - FRANCE - 17 November