FIM X-Trial
With a full house of five wins from five starts, Toni Bou (Repsol Honda-ESP) has kept hitting the ‘Bullseye’ to take his 14th consecutive FIM X-Trial World Championship in 2020. In truth, the only rider to pose any threat to Bou’s supremacy has been Adam Raga (TRRS-ESP). Despite showing a very high level of riding, Raga has not on any occasion been able to deny Bou his full house of 100 points. With the cancellation of the round in Austria the Bou machine just keeps on winning with one round remaining in Andorra.
It was in late 2019 that the 2020 championship started, on the French overseas territory of La Reunion island, in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar, for its only trip out of Europe. Round two was held in late December in Rennes, France, before the Christmas break, and the action returned in the historical city of Budapest in Hungary in January 2020. Both of the Spanish rounds took place, visiting Barcelona and then Bilbao, before another short break for the concluding round in late spring in Andorra after the cancellation of Austria. A quintet of permanent riders consisting of the defending champion Toni Bou (Repsol Honda-ESP), Adam Raga (TRRS-ESP), Jaime Busto (Vertigo-ESP), Benoit Bincaz (Beta-FRA) and Gabriel Marcelli (Montesa-ESP) were joined by three nominated riders at each individual rounds. Busto would miss his ‘home’ round in Bilbao with a knee injury.
ROUND FOUR: BARCELONA, SPAIN
Now in its 43rd year, the Barcelona Indoor Trials event was first to run in 1978 making it the oldest event of its type in the busy trials calendar. The magnificent Palau Sant Jordi in Montjuic, which stands very proud above the city, hosted round four once again. In the heats, it was soon quite apparent that the men on form were Jorge Casales (Gas Gas-ESP), who won his heat, and Beniot Bincaz (Beta-FRA) as Adam Raga (TRRS-ESP) out-pointed
Toni Bou (Repsol Honda-ESP).
The crowd were expecting a good result from Gabriel Marcelli (Montesa-ESP) on the only other four-stroke machine in the competition as he finished in eighth position after finishing on the podium only two weeks before in Budapest, Hungary. It did not materialise, and nor did the expected challenges from the other riders.
Defending FIM X-Trial World Champion, Toni Bou, had a challenging qualifying process on his way to the victory in Barcelona as his constant rival Adam Raga out-pointed him in the heats. Bou was looking quite awkward on the Repsol Honda with a very stiff back after a training accident on the Wednesday before Sunday night’s action. The challengers came and went. As with many previous occasions, the process left Bou and Raga to do battle for the victory after Jorge Casales took the final step on the podium after beating French rider Beniot Bincaz over a timed section after they both parted with five marks each. Raga appeared very strong and confident in the opening stages of the competition. However, in the final, Bou used all his experience to open up an advantage; he never looked back as Raga pushed him all the way, just like we have seen in the past.
ROUND FIVE: BILBAO, SPAIN
It is the second visit for the FIM X-Trial World Championship to the Bizkaia Arena which attracted
5,000 trials fans who enjoyed the evening’s action. The four permanent riders; Toni Bou (Repsol Honda-ESP), Adam Raga (TRRS-ESP), Benoit Bincaz (Beta-FRA) and Gabriel Marcelli (Montesa-ESP), would be joined by Miquel Gelabert (Vertigo-ESP) (replacing the injured Jaime Busto (Vertigo-ESP)), Jeroni Fajardo (Sherco-ESP), Jorge Casales (Gas Gas-ESP) and Toby Martyn (TRRS-GBR). The ‘Wild Card’ rider, Toby Martyn, was out first with Miquel Gelabert, but they failed to capitalise on their opportunity as they were both eliminated in heat one.
Jeroni Fajardo looked a strong contender in the heats and, crucially, got the upper hand over Jorge Casales with some inspired riding to secure qualification to the next FIM X-Trial round six in Wiener Neustadt, Austria. After his poor result in Barcelona, Gabriel Marcelli appeared more comfortable in Bilbao and pushed Fajardo throughout heat two, but missed out as the slower of the two riders to progress any further.
Showing confidence in his ability after his early-season injuries, Benoit Bincaz followed up his fourth place in Barcelona with his first podium visit of the 2020 season. Maybe it’s a strange coincidence, but at the same venue in 2019, he recorded his last podium. In the fight for the final step on the podium, the Frenchman finished with a quicker time and also out-pointed Jeroni Fajardo by a single mark in the Consolation Final.
Adam Raga put in his best performances in the opening two rounds, and in doing so, got the better of Bou by four marks in the preliminary phase and then again during the heats. The pendulum swung back to Bou in the final when Raga parted with his first marks and dropped four marks behind Bou despite riding in front of him. Be under no false illusion; just because Bou took the victory, he had to be at his very best once again as he claimed his fifth win of the season despite a massive crash in the penultimate hazard.
For the third round in succession, Raga pushed Bou all the way as he took the fight for the X-Trial victory to the decisive final section but, as we have seen before, Bou always has the edge at the end.