The X-Trial in Wiener Neustadt was tonight the scene of Jaime Busto’s (GasGas) first victory of the season, the third of his career in the X-Trial World Championship.
Busto beat Toni Bou (Repsol Honda Trial Team) and Adam Raga (TRRS) who finished second and third respectively in a Final in which Bou was penalised with a 5 in the second section and dropped behind his rivals. At the end of the first four sections, Busto was leading with only 3 penalty points, driving very effectively. Raga accumulated 9 and Bou made a mistake that loaded him with a 5 and made him practically say goodbye to the chances of achieving victory.
In the penultimate section, Raga added a point, tying with Bou at 10 and Busto went to zero achieving the victory mathematically. Finally, in the last section, the fight for second place was decided as Raga, like Busto, was charged with five and Bou moved it to zero. The World Champion has scored the two additional points for being the best in each of the first two rounds.
On this occasion, Gabriel Marcelli (Repsol Honda Trial Team) was the first rider to finish after the three on the podium. Seventh place in his second round has ruined his chances after finishing third in the first. Aniol Gelabert (Beta), who was competing in Austria in his second X-Trial after making his debut in Granada in 2019, closed the Spanish quintet in the lead, surprising with a second place in the first round.
For his part, Benoit Bincaz (Sherco) took sixth place ahead of Toby Martyn (Montesa) who qualified better in the second round than in the first, Matteo Grattarola (Vertigo) who continues to have physical problems and local rookie Marco Mempör (GasGas) who had made his debut with a seventh place in the first round.
The third round of the 2023 X-Trial World Championship will take place in Pamplona and its Navarra Arena on March 25.
X-TRIAL AUSTRIA CLASSIFICATION
WIENER NEUSTADT- x-trial 2023
- JAIME BUSTO (GASGAS)
- TONI BOU (MONTESA)
- ADAM RAGA (TRRS)
- GABRIEL MARCELLI (MONTESA)
- ANIOL GELABERT (BETA)
- BENOIT BINCAZ (SHERCO)
- TOBY MARTYN (MONTESA)
- MATTEO GRATTAROLA (VERTIGO)
- MARCO MEMPOR (GASGAS)
CAREER STATEMENTS
JAIME BUSTO (P1)"I'm very happy for the victory and for having achieved it in Austria, which is like having done it at Gas Gas' home. Throughout the first two rounds I made some mistakes that didn't penalise me too much, but in the final I rode at a high level. It's been almost perfect."
toni bou (P2)"The result is not bad if we think about the championship. The first two rounds I rode at a high level. The zero in the last section allowed me to secure the second position, although today's final was certainly not one of my best finishes. The five in zone two and my mistake in zone four could have cost me the win."
ADAM RAGA (P3)"I'm happy to be back on the podium. It was tricky but third place is a good result. In the first round I felt very comfortable. The second one was tougher and in the final I combined some mistakes with very good actions. We have to continue in this vein and be more competitive in the next round."
Video x-trial AUSTRIA 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
