Toni Bou has won the La Nucia Trial; the first of the eight rounds of the SPEA RFME Spanish Trial Championship 2018. Jeroni Fajardo and Albert Cabestany flanked him, in that order, on the TR1 podium.
Pablo Suárez, in TR2; David Millán, in TR3; Sergio Puyo, in TR4; Álex Canales, in Junior; Carlos Palma, in Cadet; Neus Murcia, in Female A, Mireia Lozano, in Female B; Gaudí Vall, in Juvenil A; Nil Riera, in Juvenil B; and Antoni Ramonet, in Veteran, were the other winners of the day.
A total of 120 drivers have taken the start in this inaugural race of 2018.
The SPEA RFME Spanish Trial Championship 2018 has started its journey for the fourth consecutive year in La Nucia (Alicante). In fact, this has been the tenth time that it has hosted the best national competition of the specialty in the world; the first in which TR1 has also taken part, the most difficult and demanding level of the CET.
Specifically, eleven of the twelve categories that have been called this season have emerged: the aforementioned TR1, as well as TR2, TR3, TR4, Junior, Cadet, Female A and B, Youth A and B, and Veteran. The new E-Trial, reserved for electric motorcycles, will make its official debut at the next stop: Sigüenza (Guadalajara), in mid-April.
No less than 120 drivers took part in the start of CET 2018.
This first of the eight races that make up the calendar – and which you can check here – has also served to pay tribute to the 50 years of life of the National Trial. Not surprisingly, in Gilet (Valencia) and at the same time on the calendar, Pere Pi, who would end up becoming the first absolute Spanish Champion in our history, took the victory in the opening race of the 1968 Spanish Championship.
Likewise, La Nucia has allowed us to discover the novelties in terms of regulations and race format that will prevail in the great competition of the sport of dynamic balance in our country – and that you have broken down here and here – this year.
Organized by the Royal Spanish Motorcycling Federation (RFME), the Motorcycling Federation of the Valencian Community (FMCV), MotoDes and the La Nucia Off Road Club, with the collaboration of the Department of Sports of the City of La Nucia and the Provincial Council of Alicante, the CET 2018 La Nucia has had as its epicenter the Ciutat Esportiva Camilo Cano; where once again the paddock has been located, as well as five of the 22 areas that in this edition have configured a route divided into two groups – 12 for TR1, TR2, TR3 and Junior, and another 10 completely different for the remaining categories.
On the purely sporting side, Toni Bou (Montesa) took the victory, ahead of Jeroni Fajardo (Gas Gas), second, and Albert Cabestany (Beta), third. Bou has closed the first pass through the zones with a penalty of 17 points, while in the second entry into the zones he has barely added 12 more points to his card. Fajardo, on the other hand, has qualified second after scoring 26 and 22 points, respectively. Cabestany, on the other hand, needed 25 and 29 points to climb to the last place on the podium. The big absentee has been
Adam Raga due to injury
, as he is recovering from an operation on the tendon in his left elbow.
TR2, the second most difficult level of the CET 2018, had Pablo Suárez as its winner with a total of 25 points; seven less than Norway’s Sondre Haga, second, and eight less than Eric Miquel, who was third.
In Women’s A, the victory went to Neus Murcia after closing the two rounds with a maximum of 15 points. Berta Abellán, on the other hand, has accumulated 27 points to be second, while Maria Giró has ended up unseating Theresa Bauml from the podium by presenting a card with 31 points; three less than the German driver.
In the rest of the levels in action, the winners were the following riders: David Millán, in TR3; Sergio Puyo, in TR4; Álex Canales, in Junior; Carlos Palma, in Cadet; Mireia Lozano, in Female B; Gaudí Vall, in Juvenil A; Nil Riera, in Juvenil B; and Antoni Ramonet, in Veterano.
For the next race of the SPEA RFME Spanish Trial Championship 2018 we will have to wait until April 14 and 15. Under the baton of the Moto Club Alto Henares, TR1, TR2, TR3, TR4, Junior, Cadet will return to action and E-Trial will be released, as we said.
CET LA NUCÍA 2018 RESULTS
DECLARATIONS
Toni Bou
It has been a good opening weekend of the Spanish Championship. The zones were good, because they allowed you to fail and also recover, if you made mistakes. However, we had come to this first outdoor race without having had much time to train, because we are fully immersed in the indoor season. But as the race progressed, I felt comfortable and was able to complete a good trial. It was a great start to the championship with a good feeling on the bike.
Jeroni Fajardo
On Saturday, we launched a new qualifying system. I finished in fourth place, which allowed me not to have to open up any areas today. The first lap went quite well for me and could have been much better if it wasn’t for two mistakes in the last sections. The second one also went well for me until I reached the eighth zone, where a stone was discarded and I scored a five in a relatively easy area. I thought I had missed out on the podium, but the other riders also made mistakes and I was able to finish second. I’m very happy with the result which motivates us even more for the next rounds.
Jaime Busto
Saturday’s qualifying went quite well and I managed to finish third, a good place for today’s race. This was my first outdoor race with GasGas, and the truth is that the first lap didn’t go well at all. Fortunately, in the second lap I felt much better on the bike, with more confidence, and in the end I was able to complete a very good second lap that allowed me to finish fourth. A good way to start the national. We will continue to work with the team to continue improving the results.
