The 2024 Trial World Championship kicked off yesterday at the Motegi Mobility Resort, a Honda-owned complex that has a demanding mixed terrain of stones and dirt in its vicinity, mostly with a great slope.
This event is always special for the Repsol Honda Team because it is very close to Honda’s headquarters. Toni Bou did not disappoint and climbed to the top of the podium on both days of competition, exhibiting a special superiority on the first day, where he completed both laps with a total of 14 points, to 38 for his teammate, Gabriel Marcelli and 41 for Adam Raga, who signed his first outdoor podium with Sherco.
BUSTO SENTENCES HIS SEASON IN THE FIRST ZONES
The big surprise of this first day was Jaime Busto. The Basque rider started with a zero in zone one, but in zone two he had problems with his bike, which stopped with a mechanical breakdown as soon as he faced the first big step of the zone. A technical setback that has affected more official GASGAS and seems to be due to a problem with the mixture of oil in the petrol, which perhaps did not happen. The direct consequence is that Busto managed to finish the first lap with all the fiascos, arriving at the paddock to repair the bike and finish the race in penultimate position. A result that conditions practically the entire season and almost certainly takes them away from the fight for the title. On Sunday he went out to the race opening zones and it was not until the fifth zone when he managed to get out of the fiasco, entering the race progressively and signing a discreet seventh place that leaves him 24 points behind the leader when only 40 have been disputed.
It was a good weekend for the Repsol Honda Team, with the surprise of Adam Raga getting into the fight for the victory, as on this second day. The fact that Jaime is far away in the general standings gives Raga wings to think that he can make a top three in this 2024 World Championship at the age of 42.
A very positive race also for Aniol Gelabert, fourth both days and with good times. The fifth and sixth positions were exchanged by Grattarola and Bincaz between the two days, keeping the pulse of the “top 3” before the arrival in Europe.
HACE MAKES HISTORY AND BRISTOW SIGNS DOUBLE
The Trial2 category is very exciting and close. Sondre Haga signed the first victory of an electric motorcycle, the GASGAS TXE, in a World Trial competition in the Trial2 category, where both electric and thermal bikes coexist. He was accompanied on the podium by Gael Chatagno with an Electric Motion Factor-E, also electric, and Alex Canales was third. Both Alex and Gael repeated the podium on Sunday, swapping positions, behind Jack Peace, winner of the day and provisional leader of the category. Haga was fourth after the tiebreaker with Chatagno.
In TrialGP Women, Emma Bristow’s one-two finish. On Saturday with authority and on Sunday with the permission of Berta Abellán, who led the day with solvency and also had technical problems from the middle of the second lap, finally signing third place both days. Among them, the Italian rider Sofia Rabino.
The second round of the TrialGP World Championship will be between June 7 and 9 in Andorra, also scoring a double day.
TRIAL-GP CLASSIFICATION Japan 2024
TRIAL GP japan · D1 · 2024
- TONI BOU (MONTESA)
- GABRIEL MARCELLI (MONTESA)
- ADAM RAGA (SHERCO)
- ANIOL GELABERT (TRRS)
- MATTEO GRATTAROLA (BETA)
- BENOIT BINCAZ (SHERCO)
- TOBY MARTYN (MONTESA)
- MIQUEL GELABERT (VERTIGO)
- JAIME BUSTO (GASGAS)
- HUGO DUFRESE (GASGAS)
TRIAL GP JAPAN · D2 · 2024
- TONI BOU (MONTESA)
- ADAM RAGA (SHERCO)
- GABRIEL MARCELLI (MONTESA)
- ANIOL GELABERT (TRRS)
- BENOIT BINCAZ (SHERCO)
- MATTEO GRATTAROLA (BETA)
- JAIME BUSTO (GASGAS)
- MIQUEL GELABERT (VERTIGO)
- TOBY MARTYN (MONTESA)
- HUGO DUFRESE (GASGAS)
