The Portuguese city of Gouveia has hosted the second Grand Prix of the 2023 Trial World Championship, with two days of scoring competition, the third and fourth of the current campaign.
As was the case in the Spanish GP, held just a week ago in Arteixo, the victories have been shared between Toni Bou and Jaime Busto, who face the next Japanese GP with the provisional classification in a draw. As a curiosity, since Toni Bou is World Champion (consecutively since 2007), only in 2013 did he reach the fifth race without being provisional leader. In that year he won by a ten-point margin over Raga.
SATURDAY, FIRST DAY
In Gouveia we witnessed a Friday of heavy rain, which complicated the terrain and increased the flow of water that came down in the river areas, making the first day, held on Saturday, especially selective.
In the first step of the zones, Toni Bou was unstoppable and signed an advantage that would end up being decisive, as Jaime Busto, who presented a card with eighteen more points, was able to reduce Toni Bou’s second set to sign a card of twelve points. The podium was completed by Gabriel Marcelli, who was fighting for second place until the penultimate section.
Off the podium, further away, this first day was completed by Adam Raga, followed by Matteo Grattarola, who concluded his best race with Vertigo, Jeroni Fajardo, Aniol Gelabert, Jorge Casales and Luca Petrella.
Sunday, day two
On the second day of competition, tighter times were expected and it was expected that any mistake by the leading riders would be costly. Toni Bou got off to a good start and delivered a card with seven points in the first pass through the zones, followed by Jaime Busto, who left the maximum score in the selective zone seven.
It was precisely in that zone, the seventh, where the four points that Toni Bou had led up to that point in the race, vanished when he committed a fiasco that would end up costing him the victory by just one point in favor of Jaime Busto, who completed a spectacular lap of only one point. The podium was completed, once again, by Gabriel Marcelli, who consolidates his position as one of the three strongest riders in the championship.
Again the fourth position went to Adam Raga, followed by Grattarola increasingly adapted to his Vertigo Nitro, and Aniol Gelabert, who climbed one position compared to Saturday. Jeroni Fajardo, Jorge Casales and Luca Petrella completed the classification.
Trial 2, Billy Green’s one-two
It was a spectacular weekend for Billy Green, who took the first two victories of the new Scorpa SCT in the intermediate category and managed to climb positions in the general classification to take the lead. Jack Peace, with Sherco, was second in both rounds and is now provisionally runner-up, just four points behind Green.
Positive weekend for Sondre Haga, the reigning champion of the category, who after a bad second day of the Spanish GP, returns to the positions of honor with a double podium and maintains the rope of the championship, where he is placed in fourth position.
On the other hand, it was a difficult GP for Pablo Suárez, who got off the podium on both days and lost a dangerously small margin in the general classification. Right now he is twelve points behind the leader and his goal is only to be proclaimed World Champion of the category in this edition, so he will have to amend these results in the next races.
WOMEN’S TRIALGP, BRISTOW MAKES UP GROUND
In the TrialGP Women category, the excitement continues between the two big favourites: Emma Bristow and Berta Abellán.
The Sherco rider, reigning World Champion, knew that she could not repeat the mistakes of Arteixo, where on the first day she finished in third position. It is a non-selective category where mistakes are paid dearly and both riders are at a high level.
Emma leaves Portugal with a double victory, with Sunday’s victory being closer, where Abellán drove more successfully.
The podium was completed by Naomi Monnier on Saturday and Alice Menta on Sunday.
With four races already played, Berta Abellán is the leader with a two-point advantage over Emma Bristow.
Trial 3, Hemingway dominates
CLASSIFICATION TRIAL-GP gouveia DAY 1
TRIAL GP portugal· D1 · 2023
- TONI BOU (MONTESA)
- JAIME BUSTO (GASGAS)
- GABRIEL MARCELLI (MONTESA)
- ADAM RAGA (TRRS)
- MATTEO GRATTAROLA (VERTIGO)
- JERONI FAJARDO (SHERCO)
- ANIOL GELABERT (BETA)
- JORGE CASALES (SCORPA)
- LUCA PETRELLA (GASGAS)
TRIAL GP portugal · D2 · 2023
- JAIME BUSTO (GASGAS)
- TONI BOU (MONTESA)
- GABRIEL MARCELLI (MONTESA)
- ADAM RAGA (TRRS)
- MATTEO GRATTAROLA (VERTIGO)
- ANIOL GELABERT (BETA)
- JERONI FAJARDO (SHERCO)
- JORGE CASALES (SCORPA)
- LUCA PETRELLA (GASGAS)
CAREER STATEMENTS
toni bou (P1 & P2)"Overall, I have a good balance of the race. We knew that today would be more difficult, that all the rivals would make fewer mistakes and that's how it was. A mistake on the first lap meant that we took some points, but then we were able to come back. On the second lap we were four points ahead and I made a mistake in a river area. The truth is that we were very close to the limit and it narrowly escaped. This position is good for the championship. The next round is in Japan where it's always a special race for our team. We've achieved great results there and we'll go there with a lot of enthusiasm and a super tight championship. So give 100%."
Jaime Busto (P2 & P1)"It's been an amazing weekend for me. It's not the easiest thing because I'm not used to so much water and on Saturday I was caught a bit off guard, I wasn't feeling very good, but I managed to fight and got a second place. Today, from the start, I felt much better and kept a clear head, did what I had to do and got the win. I had a lot of pressure, but I felt really good on the bike and it's great to leave Portugal in the same places as Toni at the top of the championship."
GABRIEL MARCELLI (P3 & P3)"I think the day went really well. It's true that I made a few too many mistakes, which I would have liked to avoid, but we drove very well and the team did a great job. We're happy with the result, it's good points for the championship and we have to continue in the same vein. We have shown that we have a lot of consistency and that we have a very consistent level. That's a very good sign for Japan, this result has given me extra confidence, which ensures that we can be on the podium in every race. Now we'll have to go to Japan for a little bit more."
Video TRIAL Portugal GP 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
