The first race of the 2023 TrialGP championship took place last weekend in Arteixo (Spain), where the battle between GasGas rider Jaime Busto and Honda-Montesa rider Toni Bou continued, with the two riders finishing tied for first place in the standings.
There was great enthusiasm and motivation at the start of another outdoor Trial World Championship: the important change this year being that each Grand Prix will be held over two days, making a total of 16 days of points-scoring competition for the TrialGP. In the opening event in Arteixo (A Coruña, Spain) the GasGas rider, Jaime Busto, made his intentions for this season clear by taking victory in the first test of the day, his third TrialGP win. On the second day Busto finished in 2nd place, ending the weekend in 1st place, tied on points with 32-time world champion Toni Bou.
Reigning world champion Toni Bou (Montesa) opened the season on the podium, albeit not on the top step, hindered by mistakes that, as he himself admitted, were almost impossible to recover from, as well as some discomfort in his arm. The next day, despite the problem with his arm, Bou rode impressively to achieve a victory that he had to fight for to snatch from his rival. His team-mate Gabriel Marcelli had a great weekend at his home GP, finishing on the podium on the first day and just missing out on the second, leaving him tied with Adam Raga in the final standings.
Jorge Casales (Scorpa) did not get off to a good start on the first day, finishing in 8th place. However, he finished the second day in 5th place, maintaining that position in the final classification. Catalan rider Aniol Gelabert, with his Beta trial bike, had the same result, but in reverse.
In the women’s category, Spanish rider Berta Abellan (Scorpa) had a very strong outing, showing all her potential and desire to win the title, achieving a double victory in the first women’s TrialGP event of 2023. British rider and 8-time world champion Emma Bristow (Sherco) was not so lucky, finishing in 3rd and 2nd place in Spain.
The next TrialGP race will take place in Gouveia, Portugal on 21 to 23 April.
