On Friday, January 17, the big names in indoor trial met again in the third round of the 2025 X-Trial World Championship. The event took place in the French city of Clermont-Ferrand, where excitement was guaranteed from the first moment.
First round: Minimum margins and maximum tension
The first qualifying phase (Q1) was characterised by a relatively accessible route, although small mistakes made big differences in qualifying. Jaime Busto (GAS GAS) dominated with authority by adding only 4 penalty points. Toni Bou (Montesa), with a couple of feet more, secured second position. Benoit Bincaz (Sherco), with 8 points, completed the trio of riders who went directly to the final.
Other competitors encountered more difficulties. Adam Raga (Sherco) was on the verge of a direct pass by just one point. Gabriel Marcelli (Montesa) saw his chances go up in smoke after a key mistake in the first zone, which cost him 5 points that were difficult to recover.
Matteo Grattarola (Beta) added 13 points, placing him in sixth position. Hugo Dufrese (Beta) and Billy Green (Scorpa) closed the classification with 13 and 25 points, respectively. This first phase determined who was in better shape while the rest would have to play everything in the second round.
Q2: Raga brings out his best version
In the second round (Q2), Adam Raga showed his experience, setting a time of 49.6 seconds that allowed him to secure his pass to the final. Matteo Grattarola was only 3 seconds away from achieving it, but it was not enough. This phase left out Marcelli, who for the second time in the season failed to reach the final, along with Dufrese and Green.
Superpole: Busto sets the pace
Jaime Busto showed his speed in Superpole, posting an impeccable time of 44.9sec without penalty. Toni Bou followed closely behind with 46.0 seconds, while Adam Raga took third place in this round. Benoit Bincaz, who was competing at home, suffered an accident in the second zone, losing any chance of improving his fourth position.
Final: Bou takes the championship lead
The grand final was a vibrant spectacle. The surprise came soon when Jaime Busto, one of the favourites, made a fiasco in the first zone due to the poor grip of the logs.
From there, the fight was very close in the top three, while Bincaz trailed behind with errors in the first sections. Everything was decided in the last zone, where Busto and Raga arrived tied. Busto managed to complete the zone with a 3-foot penalty, while Raga could not finish it within time, adding 5 points. Bou, who arrived with an advantage, knew that the victory was already his before entering the final zone that he finished with 3 feet.
With this victory, Toni Bou is the leader of the championship with a 5-point advantage over Jaime Busto. Raga is in third place with 33 points, while Marcelli and Bincaz are tied with 24.
Text: Javier Marco
CLERMONT-FERRAND 2025 Xtrial CLASSIFICATION
xtrial CLERMONT-FERRAND · 2025
- TONI BOU (MONTESA)
- JAIME BUSTO (GASGAS)
- ADAM RAGA (SHERCO)
- BENOIT BINCAZ (SHERCO)
- GABRIEL MARCELLI (MONTESA)
- MATTEO GRATTAROLA (BETA)
- HUGO DUFRESE (BETA)
- BILLY GREEN (SCORPA)
