The fifth race of the Trial World Championship, This weekend’s race in Andorra left us with a double victory for Toni Bou which, although it is not insurmountable for the championship to be open again, leaves very few options for Jaime Busto to close the gap of 14 points with only two GPs and four races to go.
The Andorran GP is Toni Bou’s home race. The place where the race takes place, in the vicinity of Naturlandia, is his traditional training place and the rider has been based in the country of the Pyrenees for years.
However, Andorra is traditionally not an easy race for the reigning world champion. In the last ten years, Adam Raga has won seven games, compared to Toni Bou’s nine. On this occasion, however, Adam Raga was the big absentee after going under the knife on Friday to undergo surgery on the meniscus in his knee, which had detached as a result of an injury sustained last March.
GP TRIAL ANDORRA, BOU DOMINA
In this context, the excitement was to know if Jaime Busto, who had not yet managed to win in Andorra, could overtake Toni Bou and recover the ground lost in Italy.
However, Jaime was not comfortable in the Andorran mountains, whose sections had become more complicated than usual due to the rain that fell during the previous day and the race itself, which left the sections with very little traction and it was easy to make mistakes.
On both days Jaime went from less to more, but in such an even world championship there is no margin for big mistakes and the GASGAS rider failed more than usual on the first lap of both days, making any effort of a good second lap practically useless to fight for the victory to Toni Bou.
The player from Montesa was unstoppable on both days, being very regular and effective. On Saturday he managed to set the best lap time of the whole weekend, with only four points. This allowed his greatest rival to practically double the winner’s card. On Sunday it was Busto who scored the best stage of the day, but in the overall calculation he was still far from fighting for victory.
The podium was completed on both days by Matteo Grattarola, who has three podiums in four races after his return to Beta. These results have allowed him to overtake Adam Raga in the general classification, placing fourth, although with complicated options to enter the fight for the global “top three”.
Fourth position both days for Jorge Casales, who has taken a step forward with his Scorpa during this weekend, as he had serious options to fight for the podium. A bittersweet fifth position for Gabriel Marcelli, who did not end up feeling comfortable and acknowledged that the result is not positive, but allows him to consolidate in third position overall, now without the threat of Adam Raga.
HISTORIC TRIAL2 RESULT
In Trial2 we witnessed an exciting weekend. On Saturday, Pablo Suárez won, who regains the rhythm of the championship and gets into the fight for the title, where he is only twelve points behind the leader, Billy Green, who regains the lead after thedebacle in Italy.
Spectacular second position on Saturday for Gael Chatagno, who signed the best result for an electric trial bike in a world championship, staying just one point away from victory. The podium was completed by Harry Hemingway after beating Jack Dance in the points tiebreaker.
It was Jack Dance who won on Sunday, ahead of Billy Green and Pablo Suarez.
In Trial3, the top three finishers tied on Saturday, with the victory going to Jone Sandvik, followed by Poland’s Pawel Ryncarz and George Hemingway. On Sunday the drivers scored more points and the protagonists changed mostly, with the victory going to Jamie Galloway, followed by Hemingway and Alfie Lampkin.
On this occasion, the women of Trial2 Women also competed, with French rider Alycia Soyer dominating the whole weekend, with two victories. On the podium on Saturday, he was joined by Bacchetta and Laia Pi, respectively. These protagonists were the same on Sunday, although exchanging their boxes on the podium.
CLASSIFICATION TRIAL-GP andorra
TRIAL GP andorra · D1 · 2023
- TONI BOU (MONTESA)
- JAIME BUSTO (GASGAS)
- MATTEO GRATTAROLA (BETA)
- JORGE CASALES (SCORPA)
- GABRIEL MARCELLI (MONTESA)
- MIQUEL GELABERT (VERTIGO)
- ANIOL GELABERT (BETA)
- JERONI FAJARDO (SHERCO)
- BENOIT BINCAZ (SHERCO)
- LUCA PETRELLA (GASGAS)
TRIAL GP andorra · D2 · 2023
- TONI BOU (MONTESA)
- JAIME BUSTO (GASGAS)
- MATTEO GRATTAROLA (BETA)
- JORGE CASALES (SCORPA)
- GABRIEL MARCELLI (MONTESA)
- ANIOL GELABERT (BETA)
- MIQUEL GELABERT (VERTIGO)
- BENOIT BINCAZ (SHERCO)
- JERONI FAJARDO (SHERCO)
- LUCA PETRELLA (GASGAS)
