The fifth, penultimate round of the FIM X-Trial World Championship will take place this weekend in the French city of Marseille, where Toni Bou arrives as the leader and with a chance of claiming another world title.
After achieving his 60th victory at the X-Trial in Granada, Toni Bou can achieve another new milestone in his career this coming weekend. In Marseille on Saturday 9 March, the Repsol Honda Team rider will face the first match-ball of the season to claim his thirteenth X-Trial world title.
The X-Trial de Marseille will be held at the Palais des Sports in the French city, which will open at 7:00 p.m., to start the competition at 8:30 p.m. The second phase will start at 10:15 p.m. and the final, with six zones, is scheduled to take place at 11:10 p.m., with a maximum duration of twenty minutes.
TONI BOU’S MATHEMATICAL CHOICES
The regulations of the FIM X-Trial World Championship allow riders to discount the worst result achieved in one of the races contested. With three wins (Budapest, Bilbao and Granada) and a second place (Barcelona), Toni Bou has 75 points in the table, thirteen more than the second rider, Adam Raga (62).
Bou’s chances of clinching his 13th X-Trial/indoor title in this race depend on another victory for the Repsol Honda Team rider in Marseille. With the hypothetical fourth win of the season, Bou would mathematically obtain the title by obtaining, including the subtraction result of the last race, a higher score than Raga, since even a victory for his greatest rival in Andorra would not be enough to snatch the final victory.
Toni Bou
CHAMPIONSHIP: 1ST POINTS: 75
I think that, despite having some problems to have a good pre-season, we have reached a good moment of form. The last few races have yielded good results and I, personally, am quite satisfied with how I drove. But we must never let our guard down and we have to stay focused until we achieve our goal. We have said, and I repeat, that the level of the drivers is very high and there is a lot of equality. At the least expected moment, a mistake can leave you out of the final, and that’s what we have to avoid.
