The Malaga town of Benhavís has been the scene of the third round of the 2023 Spanish Trial Championship, the second scoring event for the riders in the TR1 category. On this occasion, the TR2, TR3, Cadet 125cc, Cadet (Cup) and TR4 were also summoned.
With a climate where the prevailing heat was the main protagonist, the route proposed by the Benahavís Motorist Sports Club was one of the most demanding in recent years, with very high scores in all categories. For reference, in very tough World Championship races the winner’s scores can be in the order of thirty points; in Benhavís, being the Spanish Championship, the winner scored more than double these points.
It is also important to emphasize that not all the responsibility for the level of the zones is in charge of the organizer, since the RFME itself has a team of coordinators and supervisors to guarantee the homogeneity of the levels throughout the championship. It is clear that due to absences or some other error, the chain of supervision did not have the right criteria.
With a line-up of 77 entries, the return of the CET to Andalusia was also an excellent opportunity for more Andalusian riders to be encouraged to compete, despite the fact that the categories with the greatest influx of fans, which are the veterans, TR5 and youth, were not called.
It is worth mentioning the absences of TR1 riders such as Jorge Casales, who suffered a lumbar injury after a fall in training that same week, or Arnau Farré. On the other hand, Jeroni Fajardo, who closed the qualifying, complained of an impingement that prevented him from having mobility in his left arm. These injuries are especially important this week, as the drivers are travelling to Japan for the world championship in Motegi this weekend.
KEY FACTORS
The organization put a lot of effort and determination into preparing a top-level competition, but there were a series of factors that ended up tarnishing the result of this event.
On the one hand, the excessive level of the areas, which in some cases bordered on dangerous and resulted in several falls. These areas, in addition, were long and had too many steps, making them very difficult to complete in the regulation minute and a half; That is, we add difficulty, with zone length and time restrictions. A cocktail that causes high scores and more failures than usual.
The route of the interzone also had two-way sections and coincided with the place of public transit, which was a safety problem for both drivers and the fans themselves who came to Benhavís to enjoy the race.
In addition to this previous point, the time to complete the route was reduced, which was reduced by thirty minutes and caused even more haste and lack of control of the race. In total, the drivers had 2.5 hours to complete the first lap and 2 hours for the second and final pass through the 12 proposed zones.
This time reduction was another major culprit for the high scores, as in several cases drivers preferred to sacrifice a “three” or “five” and not receive an additional time penalty on their card. This fact, in the end, compromises the fans, who moved to the areas so that, in several cases, the drivers did not even enter them.
JAIME BUSTO WINS IN TR1
The GASGAS rider took his first victory of CET 2023 in this demanding context. Busto scored 40 points in his first set and opened a small gap with respect to Marcelli, with 47 points, followed by a large group of riders around 50 points.
The “top 5” managed to lower their previous partials, although maintaining the positions of the two leading riders. Victory for Jaime Busto, followed by Marcelli and a Raga who managed to overtake Gelabert on this second lap. Fifth place went to Pablo Suárez.
In TR2 victory for Pau Martínez, who ended up on the podium with his arm in a sling due to a fall in the race, followed by Gil Vila at just one point (having accumulated two points as a time penalty) and Pau Dinares completing the podium.
In Junior also very close scores, with Miquel Alarcón at the top of the podium, separated by two points from Xurxo Neo and completing the podium Arnau Maura.
In TR3 solid victory for Víctor Palomares, whose pace could only be followed by Rodrigo Marchal, who remains leader of the category. The podium was completed by José Romero.
The results in TR4 were also very close, with Adrià Albejano in first position, followed by Héctor Gairín and Joan Ricart.
As for the cadets, in the Cup category the victory went to Roger Montserrat, followed by Jaime Calvo, Jorge García and Íñigo Estefanell. In the Cadet 125cc category, solid victory for the young American Ryon Land, followed by Oriol García and Javier Terrín.
The next round of the Spanish Trial Championship will be held on July 8 and 9 in Pobladura de las Regueras, León.
CET benhavis rating
TR 1 CET benhavis 2023
- JAIME BUSTO (GASGAS)
- GABRIEL MARCELLI (MONTESA)
- ADAM RAGA (TRRS)
- ANIOL GELABERT (BETA)
- PABLO SUAREZ (MONTESA)
- ALEX CANALES (SHERCO)
- GERARD TRUEBA (BETA)
- SONDRE HAGA (GASGAS)
- JERONI FAJARDO (SHERCO)
