GABBY'S GOLD
After the controversy of the 2018 Trial2 championship in Italy, no one wanted a repeat of this situation, and it was good to see a clear winner with the young Spanish rider Gabriel Marcelli (Montesa-ESP) taking the win and the championship in Spain. The title had literally gone to the wire in the favour of last year’s champion Matteo Grattarola by a single point in the championship standings. Grattarola had won three rounds, holding the upper hand, and Marcelli had won two rounds with the other one won by Frances Alexander Ferrer.
On the Saturday it looked like Grattarola was the man in winning form as he topped the time sheets in qualifying in Q1, but the rails came off in Q2. In contrast the young Marcelli took the overall qualification win and with it carried the confidence into Sunday and the deciding trial for the 2019 championship. It was a similar trial to the TrialGP boys in the fact that the early hazards did not really trouble the leading riders.
It was section six once again where the trial came to life, as only Aniol Gelabert took the Scorpa up for a superb clean ride, the only one of the lap as the entire entry all stopped. Marcelli continued on the lap and his opening score of 20 marks lost was made up of five-mark penalties. For Grattarola the championship title was slipping away with every hazard he rode after the dreaded section six, his total of 38 for the opening lap told its own story. In second was Italy’s Luca Petrella, just two marks off Marcelli.
On the second lap Marcelli did not hold back and, riding with the confidence of having one hand on the trophy, put in another good lap score, matched only by Gelabert. It was to be Gabriel’s day and the 360-degree jump out of the last section summed up his day; he was the 2019 FIM Trial2 World Champion, and he was delighted! Joining him on the podium and both having their best rides of the season was Luca Petrella and Aniol Gelabert. RESULTS: 1: Gabriel Marcelli (Montesa-ESP) 38; 2: Luca Petrella (Beta-ITA) 42; 3: Aniol Gelabert (Scorpa-ESP) 52; 4: Francesc Moret (Montesa-ESP) 57; 5: Matteo Grattarola (Honda-ITA) 64; 6: Toby Martyn (Beta-GBR) 65; 7: Jack Peace (Sherco-GBR) 71; 8: Alexandre Ferrer (Sherco-FRA) 72; 9: Hakon Pedersen (Gas Gas-NOR) 80; 10: Eric Miguel (TRRS-ESP) 80; 11: Teo Colairo (Gas Gas-FRA) 85; 12: Sondre Haga (TRRS
NOR) 86; 13: Lorenzo Gondola (Vertigo-ITA) 87; 14: Julien Perret (Gas Gas-FRA) 88; 15: David Avendano (Vertigo-VEN) 89; 16: Billy Green (Montesa-GBR) 93.