Toni Bou Maintains TrialGP Stranglehold

Toni Bou was once again unstoppable with the seventeen time World Champion claiming a pair of wins for the weekend.

The sublime Toni Bou extended his win streak in the elite TrialGP class to four victories from four starts with a dominant display on day two of the TrialGP of Andorra – round two of the 2024 Hertz FIM Trial World Championship.

Early rain made conditions treacherous on the opening lap, but as the sections started to dry out Bou shifted up a gear and demonstrated exactly why he has won the title for an astonishing seventeen consecutive seasons as he staged a Trial masterclass on the virtually sheer mountain slopes studded with towering rocks.

Although several sections were modified to take into account the rain that began to fall just as the TrialGP competitors set off from Sant Julià de Lòria in the morning, Bou’s first lap total of eighteen – six more than his opening lap score on Saturday – was a clear indication that the going was still tough.

When wet the rocks in the Pyrenean principality become notoriously slippery, a problem that is amplified when mud is dragged onto them. However, Bou took the challenging conditions in his stride and incurred just one maximum on his first lap on the severe rocky climbs of section eleven to open up a clear twelve-mark lead over Jaime Busto at the halfway stage.

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Best of the rest was French rider Benoit Bincaz on forty, but competition for the final podium position was close with just seven marks separating third from seventh with Spanish stars Gabriel Marcelli, Adam Raga and Miquel Gelabert all in contention along with Italy’s Matteo Grattarola.

With the sections rapidly drying, conditions eased in the afternoon – although Bou’s faultless second lap was nothing short of remarkable and the thirty-seven-year-old Spaniard, who now calls Andorra home, punched the air with delight as he rolled out of the final section of the day with an impressive twenty-mark winning margin.

“It has been a very positive weekend for us,” Bou reflected on his perfect weekend. “We arrived in Andorra with a lot of confidence and everything went very well. We always work to achieve these good results, but we rarely manage to do it. I am very happy with the points and above all with everything about my performance this weekend. After these four very important races for us, at Honda’s ‘home’ round and now at my second home, we are going to Italy with a very good feeling. We will try to continue in the same way. It will be tough but we have maximum confidence and we will try to achieve the best possible result.”

Gabriel Marcelli went 2-3 for the weekend and maintain his second place in the championship standings.

Just like yesterday, Marcelli was again forced into a game of catch-up following his high-scoring opening lap and the twenty-four-year-old once again did not disappoint as he dropped his score to eight at his second attempt. However, unlike yesterday the gap to Busto was too great to close and when his compatriot also posted a second lap total of eight Marcelli had to settle for third, matching his finishes at last month’s opening round in Japan.

“I’m really happy to be back on the podium again!” Busto said. “There were some really tough sections, so I didn’t have the best feeling on the bike, but I’m really motivated for the rest of the season. Day two was incredible! I started off really strong, even though I made a few mistakes on the first lap, but my second lap was great. I’m so happy to have finished second!”

With two wins for the weekend Toni Bou continues to lead the overall standings with 80 points

Marcelli was happy with his weekend of a second and a third despite the conditions not being to his liking.

“Today went quite well, even though on the first lap I didn’t feel completely comfortable,” Marcelli said. “The ground was quite wet and I was skidding a lot, in conditions that are not my strong suit. But luckily on the second lap, the sun came out and the zones dried out a bit. We gave it everything and we achieved a third position which is very important for the championship. I hope to continue like this during the season and I want to thank the team.”

Adding twelve more marks to his total on lap two, veteran Adam Raga ended the day two positions higher than on Saturday in fourth with Grattarola climbing to fifth as Bincaz slipped to eighth.

The action from the 2024 Hertz FIM Trial World Championship continues next weekend (14-16 June) with the TrialGP of Italy at Valsassina.