Toni Bou won the opening round of the 2020 X-Trial World Championship, held in front of more than 3,500 spectators at the Gymnase de l’Est of the Stade Jean Ivoula in Saint-Denis, the capital of the French island of La Réunion. In total, eight riders, including fixed riders and event riders, have participated in this competition.
The big favourite gets off to a good start in his defence of the world title.
Toni Bou
started by winning the first qualifying round with a score of just six points, followed by Adam Raga, Gabriel Marcelli and Jaime Busto. At this point in the night, two riders were left out of the semi-finals: Benit Bincaz and Kieran Touly.
The positions in this first round determined the groups of the semi-final, which on the one hand made up of Raga, Gelabert and Marcelli. And on the other, Bou, Busto and Casales. As usual, the top two in each group go through to the grand final and the runners-up play for third and fourth place. This ranking system rewards the ranking of each group, not the overall points count. As an example, Casales (12 points) expressed his discomfort at being left out of the next round by qualifying in third place, but with fewer points than Gelabert (17 points), second in the first group.
Those who went through, therefore, to the grand final, were Bou and Raga, first classified in the semi-finals. And on the other hand, Gelabert and Busto, teammates, would fight for the third step of the podium.
In this final, Bou made a difference from the second zone compared to a Raga who made more mistakes than necessary. Only TRRS was better than Montesa in the last section. Finally, victory for Bou with 10 points, to Raga’s 17.
The third place was decided by regulation to a single zone and finally went to Jaime Busto, relegating Miquel Gelabert to fourth position.
The second round of the FIM X-Trial World Championship will be held on November 23rd at the Glaz Arena in Rennes.
X-Trial Reunion Island 2020 Results
Declarations
Toni Bou (1st):
“Without a doubt, this is the best way to start the season: with a win. In the first two rounds I rode close to perfection and in the final I continued in the same vein. It was a difficult test and very demanding with the driving as shown by the scores. On the other hand, the audience of La Réunion has had a great time with the competition and the show. Therefore, the balance is unbeatable.”
Adam Raga (2nd):
“I’m happy with today’s result. I made some mistakes in the final, but I rode very well in the first and second rounds. It was a really difficult test as the sections had a very high level and we struggled to overcome some of them. The balance of this first round of the Championship is positive.”
Jaime Busto (3rd):
“It was a good way to start the season as starting with a podium is always positive. It’s true that today wasn’t one of my best days on the bike, but hey, we’ll keep fighting hard to be as close as possible to the front guys and stronger for the next race.”
