Chalon-Sur-Saône hosts the second race of the X-Trial 2022 this Friday

The city of Chalon-Sur-Saône, in the French department of Saône-et-Loire, will be the venue for the X-Trial World Championship on March 25.

Esdeux, the new promoter of the event, brings the second event of the year to Le Colisée, a sports facility where Élan Chalon of the French basketball league usually plays its home games with the collaboration of the Moto Club Demigny Sports Mécaniques.

TONI BOU, PROVISIONAL LEADER

Toni Bou (Repsol Honda Team Trial) comes into this round as the Championship leader with the 20 points he deserves for the victory in the X-Trial in Nice plus 2 additional points for having been the best in each of the first two rounds of the first round of the year.

In front of him will be the other 6 permanent drivers of the championship with Adam Raga (TRRS) and Matteo Grattarola (Beta) as the most direct rivals of the 15-time World Champion. The Spaniard maintaining his status as Bou’s main opponent and the Italian with the strength that comes from having achieved the first X-Trial podium of his sporting career in Nice.

They are joined by Frenchman Benoit Bincaz (Gas Gas) and Spaniard Jaime Busto (Vertigo) who will also be in the trio that will play in the final this season after the changes made to the competition regulations. For their part, Toby Martyn (TRRS) and Sondre Haga (Beta) will be looking to continue progressing and consolidate themselves in the group of the 6 riders participating in the second round in each of the races once the two with the worst result in the first have been discarded. It should be remembered that the 3 finalists are those with the lowest score in the cumulative of the first two Rounds of each test, another of the novelties of the competition system.

GABRIEL MARCELLI WILD CARD

The young Spaniard Gabriel Marcelli (Repsol Honda Team Trial) joins the participants in Chalon-Sur-Saône as a wildcard on this occasion and does so with great expectations as in his last participation in the X-Trial World Championship, Barcelona, he qualified second.

“I’m very happy to be in the next race of the 2022 X-Trial World Championship. Despite being one race behind, I think we will be able to do quite well in the overall championship. We’ll have to fight to be as far ahead as possible and I don’t have to go as a guest. I hope to arrive well in Madrid and Barcelona to be able to put on a good show for the Spanish fans who support us.”

The race will start at 20:30 local time.

THE X-TRIAL IN MADRID IS BACK

One of the great novelties of the calendar is the return of the X-Trial in Madrid, which after years of absence, returns strongly on the calendar. The Madrid Indoor Trial has always been a classic on the calendar, so it is an excellent opportunity to continue increasing the popularity of trial in Spain.

From Madrid, the X-Trial will make the leap to Barcelona, with the mythical Palau Sant Jordi as the stage. It will be on April 10.

SECOND HALF OF THE SEASON

One of the novelties of the calendar is that this year it will not end before or simultaneously with the TrialGP World Championship, but the Calendar takes a break in April to return in October with the X-Trial of Andorra la Vella and, subsequently, on October 21, closing the X-Trial season in France, with a location to be determined.