First win of the season for Toni Bou, accompanied on the podium at the Palau Sant Jordi by teammate Gabriel Marcelli.
There was an incredible start to the X-Trial season in Barcelona for the Repsol Honda Trial Team. Toni Bou – the reigning World Champion – achieved the first victory of the year, his sixteenth in Barcelona, with a result that places him provisional leader of the championship. His teammate, Gabriel Marcelli, was on the second step of the podium after a brilliant performance.
In the first round, Bou was third, with a total of 5 points, behind rivals Adam Raga and Jaime Busto, and with his teammate, Gabriel Marcelli, seventh with 7 points. With the new regulations, applied for the first time in Barcelona, nine riders went through to the second round, in which Bou was dominant. Marcelli rounded out the Top 3 behind Jaime Busto and has qualified for the decisive phase.
In the final round and after facing 6 zones, Bou picked up a total of 7 points, which gave him victory in the Spanish event. Marcelli, after a great performance at the Palau Sant Jordi, took second place in the final. After this great start to the season, both Repsol Honda Trial Team riders occupy the top two spots in the standings. The next challenge they will face will be on March 11th in Wiener Neustadt (Austria), the second round of the X-Trial World Championship.
Toni Bou
"I’m very happy to start the season with a victory in Barcelona. We were a bit behind on the first round, but on the second round I felt more comfortable and that allowed me to finish first and contest the final. The last round was very good, I felt great and I rode very solidly."
Gabriel Marcelli
"I came into this one with pain in my knee from a heavy crash fall two weeks ago, so I haven't been able to train as much as I would have liked. In the first round I began to notice discomfort and it affected me, but we were able to solve it by reaching the final round and getting on the podium with Toni. I’m very happy, we were fighting until the end and now it is time to continue in this way at the next events."
Takahisa Fujinami
"There is no better way to start the season than like this, with a one-two. I was looking for this result, but I did not expect it so soon. In the end, it is the consequence of all the work we have done during the winter and it is the way to go. Congratulations to the team and to the two riders!"