Jaime Busto drew first blood at the TrialGP of Spain – round one of the 2023 Hertz FIM Trial World Championship – at Arteixo, to claim his third career win.
Busto won last year’s opening day and the twenty-six-year-old again seized an early advantage with a comprehensive six-mark victory ahead of Toni Bou as the best riders in the world negotiated a challenging course comprising huge granite rocks set into a steep wooded hillside.
Rain on Friday resulted in early slippery conditions but Busto parted with just two late marks on the opening lap as Bou collect nine penalties. With the victory seemingly in the bag, Busto incurred a second-lap maximum on the big hillside rock slabs of section ten but by this point, it was game over and he signed off with a clean over the indoor logs and concrete pipes that formed the final section.
“It has been an incredible day for me,” said Busto. “I felt great from the first section. It wasn’t hard but it was easy to make mistakes. We were very well prepared and the bike and the team worked perfectly.”
The 32-time World Champion Bou took the loss well but will be back looking for redemption at round two tomorrow.
“A second place that is quite good for the championship. We made some mistakes that were almost impossible to recover from, but we held up well,” Bou said. “When you don’t win, taking second place is important, so I’m happy. I had some discomfort in my arm during the second lap. Tomorrow the objective will be the same: To go out and fight for victory and be at the top.”
All-action young gun Gabriel Marcelli was a further eight marks adrift of team-mate Bou but it was still good enough for the twenty-two-year-old to take just his second career podium in third, two ahead of veteran Adam Raga with Aniol Gelabert completing the all-Spanish top-five.
“I’m very happy,” Marcelli said. “I think the bike was 10/10 and the team were too. Starting the outdoor season with a third place is a very positive result. It was a simple trial round, and this means that we cannot afford to make mistakes. Tomorrow we will have to push and I will try to do my best to get on the podium again -and move up some positions in the race.”
The 2023 Hertz FIM Trial World Championship reconvenes tomorrow for day two of the TrialGP of Spain.
