The Repsol Honda Team rider achieves another victory in Barcelona, and is one step away from a 16th X-Trial title. Gabriel Marcelli misses out on qualifying for the semifinal.
The X-Trial World Championship returned to Barcelona on April 10th, five months after Toni Bou was crowned World Champion for the thirtieth time there. The Spaniard achieved his fifteenth victory at his home event, and his fourth of the season. Teammate Gabriel Marcelli, affected by last week’s crash in Madrid, did not manage to get past the first round.
Bou won the first lap at the Palau Sant Jordi, tied on 8 points with Adam Raga but faster than his rival. On that lap, Marcelli missed out on the opportunity to progress when he accumulated 23 points.
In the semifinal, the thirty-time World Champion dominated once again, finishing with 9 points. In the final, he was involved in a close battle with Raga and Grattarola, emerging victorious with a 4-point advantage.
With this first place, Toni Bou extends his lead to 87 points in the standings, 30 more than his nearest rival. Marcelli is fifth, with 18 points. The next round of the competition will be held in Andorra, on October 8th.
TONI BOU
“I’m very happy with how the night went. I did some amazing things, but I also made a very big mistake in the final. I was possibly a little nervous, I fell a little short on the first step and it was surprising to get stuck there. Fortunately, we reacted quickly, because I knew that the next section was very important and tricky, and would decide the race. Today I was able to score 22 more points. It is incredible how we have started this X-Trial World Championship season, with four wins out of four, and only one extra point has got away from us. I’m very happy with how things are going, even though Adam is in great form and he’s making it difficult for me. Now it’s time to disconnect from the indoor series, but I am looking forward to Andorra.”
GABRIEL MARCELLI
“The fall in Madrid hindered me a bit. I also made a couple of pretty big mistakes, which were definitely my fault. In any case, I started again a little more nervous than usual. I have to start controlling my nerves better and I’m sure that in the coming races everything will be much better. We were very close to making the semifinal and, despite not being at 100%, I think I had a lap worthy of getting there, but that’s racing.”
