Repsol Honda
HRC riders
Toni Bou and
Gabriel Marcelli,
representing
Spain, won the
FIM X-Trial
of Nations in
Seville, Spain.
Great Britain was
second and Italy
third.
WIND
IN THE
P38
Bou, Marcelli, Winners of X-Trial of Nations
T
he Spanish team, consisting
of Toni Bou and his Repsol
Honda Trial Team teammate
Gabriel Marcelli, claimed victory
at the FIM X-Trial of Nations in
Seville, March 14. Bou celebrated
the event after just securing his
20th X-Trial World Championship
title a week earlier in Chalon-sur-
Saone, while Marcelli made his
debut in the team competition
with a win.
The Spanish duo dominated
the event from the start, winning
both the first and second rounds.
In the Final, where the two rid
-
ers from each team tackled the
same section but in opposite
directions, their opponents could
only battle for the runner-up
position. After the third section,
Spain had accumulated just
two penalty points compared to
Great Britain's 11 and Italy's 18.
Second place on the podium
was decided in the final section,
which the British riders entered
with a two-point advantage over
the Italians, and they eventually
secured the runner-up spot, their
best result since Pau in 2017.
Meanwhile, the Italian squad re
-
peated the third-place finish they
achieved last year in Nice.
In the end, Bou and Marcelli
finished with only four penalty
points, while Harry Hemingway
(Beta) and Jack Peace (Sherco)
of the Great Britain team col
-
lected 26, and Italy's Matteo
Grattarola (Beta) and Francesco
Titli (TRRS) ended with 31.
The French team, made up of
Benoit Bincaz (Electric Motion)
and Hugo Dufrese (Beta), who
finished second last year in Nice,
failed to reach the final after
placing fourth in both round one
and round two.
Meanwhile, on the United
States team, Ryon Land (Sherco)
withdrew at the last minute after
injuring himself during training
two days earlier and fracturing
a finger on his right hand. As
a result, Josh Roper (GasGas)
competed alone, and the team
was classified as DNF in the final
results of the event.
"Competing in the X-Trial of
Nations is always different," said
Bou, "and today was very special
because I did it alongside Gabi,
my teammate. We rode at a very
high level, especially in the final,
and the atmosphere in Seville
was spectacular."
CN
OVERALL
1. Spain (Toni Bou & Gabriel Marcelli)
2. Great Britain (Harry Hemingway
& Jack Peace)
3. Italy (Matteo Grattarola &
Francesco Titli)
