The 2023 Trial World Championship kicked off with a resounding organizational success in the town of Arteixo in A Coruña, where two independent days of competition were held, which left us with two different winners, Jaime Busto and Toni Bou, co-leaders before the arrival at the Portuguese GP this weekend.
The Spanish GP weekend started with doubts and expectation. The weather was not entirely clear and on Friday the rain made its presence, although it respected in the days of competition. On Saturday the trial was easier than on Sunday in terms of technical areas, motivated precisely by that weather uncertainty.
PARC FERME FROM FRIDAY
On Friday, the bikes entered parc ferme for the first time, which they would only leave during the race day and then return to face the second day. At this time they would not be able to visit the paddock for their usual maintenance and it would be the rider who would have to take care of this “set up” in a maximum time allowed of fifteen minutes.
Regarding this rule, the reality is that it was not a problem and all the drivers completed the second day of the race without any setbacks. Probably throughout the year it can interfere in some aspect, especially when there are crashes, but otherwise, it was proven that the reliability of all the bikes was good.
JAIME BUSTO DOMINATES SATURDAY
On Saturday, the first day of the race, Jaime Busto rode at another level, especially on the first lap, where he overcame the first twelve sections with only two points, ahead of Toni Bou, with nine, and Marcelli, with fourteen. The rest of the pilots were an abyss behind.
On the second lap Toni Bou made amends for his previous mistake in zone ten and closed the gap, but not enough to overtake Jaime Busto who was making mistakes in zone ten, but achieving a comfortable victory in his debut with GASGAS. The podium was completed by Gabriel Marcelli after an interesting fight with Adam Raga, who finished two points behind the Galician rider. The top five was closed by Aniol Gelabert in a great performance.
TONI BOU GETS THE THORN OUT OF HIM ON SUNDAY
Reigning World Champion Toni Bou faced a very difficult second day. He had hurt his arm in the fall on the first day (zone ten) and was not fully physical, but he could not give in in a championship that seems especially close with Jaime Busto.
Toni Bou’s goal was not to give up any more points in the overall championship standings over Jaime. He worked hard throughout the race and the win was possible thanks to the second part of the first lap, where Busto made more mistakes than usual and Bou fine-tuned. This final difference in the lap of nine points in favor of the rider from Montesa was key, since on the second lap Busto recovered ground signing a spectacular record of only one point. Toni Bou won the overall standings with a three-point lead over Jaime Busto, making both co-leaders after this first GP of the season.
The podium was completed by Adam Raga, with Gabriel Marcelli closing the top five just two points behind.
TOBY MARTYN, EVACUEE WITH TWO BROKEN VERTEBRAE
Toby Martyn (Montesa) fractured two vertebrae in the fifth zone on the second day, an area where the presence of the backpacker was not allowed according to the new 2023 regulations, which exclude the presence of this figure in 50% of the zones.
This fact has generated a great deal of controversy among the pilots, as they want to defend the safety aspect above all else.
For the promoters, this rule is a vehicle to adjust the level of the zones and make the levels more accessible, since they force the organizer to reduce the risks of these areas without assistance.
The British rider will be out of the world championship where, at least, the Portuguese GP and Japanese GP. We’ll see how he evolves physically.
Berta Abellán dominates in the women's category
Berta Abellán was the dominant in the women’s category during both days, starting as the reinforced leader ahead of the great favorite, Emma Bristow, who could only be third behind Andrea Rabino on Saturday, and second on Sunday behind Berta. The podium was completed by Naomi Monnier, with Andrea Rabino in fourth place.
In this way, Berta faces the second GP of the year in Portugal with an eight-point advantage over Emma.
Pablo Suárez, leader in Trial 2
Pablo Suárez won the first day of the race in the Trial2 category, ahead of Arnau Farré and Sondre Haga. On Sunday, with much tighter results, Pablo finished third, two points behind the winner, Jack Peace, which allows him to leave the Spanish GP as provisional leader of the championship. Second place on Sunday went to Billy Green.
TRIAL 3. SANDVIK ONE-TWO
The activity continues with the Portuguese GP, which will be held in Gouveia, where the world championship has already taken place on other occasions, with victory for Toni Bou in the last visit to this town.
TRIAL-GP ARTEIXO CLASSIFICATION DAY 1
SPANISH GP TRIAL · D1 · 2023
- JAIME BUSTO (GASGAS)
- TONI BOU (MONTESA)
- GABRIEL MARCELLI (MONTESA)
- ADAM RAGA (TRRS)
- ANIOL GELABERT (BETA)
- TOBY MARTYN (MONTESA)
- MATTEO GRATTAROLA (VERTIGO)
- JORGE CASALES (SCORPA)
- LUCA PETRELLA (GASGAS)
- JERONI FAJARDO (SHERCO)
- BENOIT BINCAZ (SHERCO)
SPANISH GP TRIAL · D2 · 2023
- TONI BOU (MONTESA)
- JAIME BUSTO (GASGAS)
- ADAM RAGA (TRRS)
- GABRIEL MARCELLI (MONTESA)
- JORGE CASALES (SCORPA)
- BENOIT BINCAZ (SHERCO)
- JERONI FAJARDO (SHERCO)
- ANIOL GELABERT (BETA)
- LUCA PETRELLA (GASGAS)
- MATTEO GRATTAROLA (VERTIGO)
- TOBY MARTYN (MONTESA)
CAREER STATEMENTS
toni bou (P1)"Super happy with the weekend and with the victory on this last day. In today's race I found myself with a better feeling. I still have a bit of discomfort in my arm, but we were able to fight at an impressive level. It's a victory that we value a lot, because the rivals didn't make it easy at all. Now it's time to recover well after the weekend. We are tied on points with Jaime Busto in the general standings and we have seen that he has a very high level, both have been very tight races. We have to be strong in Portugal, but the first thing now is to get this arm back to 100% for the next round."
Jaime Busto (P1 & P2)"It's been a great weekend for me. I didn't expect it to be this good. Yesterday I got the win, and it was amazing from the first section and I felt amazing on the bike. I was able to make it happen on the first day and this was a perfect way to start the season. Unfortunately today I made a mistake on one of the stages and as it was a low-scoring event, it was impossible to recover from that. I pushed all the way to the end and was able to get some points back, so that's good. I had an amazing feeling. Hopefully when we go to Portugal I can repeat my form from day one."
GABRIEL MARCELLI (P3 & P4)"Today didn't go as well as yesterday. I think I felt quite good with the bike, but a couple of sections crossed my path and that conditioned us a lot in the final result of the race. In the end we got a fourth position; These are important points for the championship and we leave with a good feeling after the whole weekend. We're looking forward to the next race. In Portugal we have two new opportunities to sneak back onto the podium and, why not, fight for a victory. So in Portugal more gas than ever."
ADAM RAGA (P4 & P3)"It's very important to be back on the podium because podiums give you the opportunity to be at the top at the end of the season, so I'm very happy with third place, although we have room for improvement for the next rounds."
Video TRIAL GP ARTEIXO 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
