It was a tense day of twists, turns and drama – plus the sport’s ultimate achievement of a clean scorecard – as competitors in the 2024 Hertz FIM Trial World Championship fired back into action on day two of the TrialGP of Germany at Neunkirchen.
In the premier TrialGP class defending champion Toni Bou eased to another victory – his seventh from eight starts – as he strengthened his claim on an unparalleled eighteenth consecutive title while reigning TrialGP Women champion Emma Bristow from Britain slipped to third behind Berta Abellan and Andrea Sofia Rabino.
Fears that the rain that appeared during the closing stages of yesterday’s second lap would fall heavily overnight did not materialise so sections – a few of which were stiffened up for day two – stayed dry, although the loose soil on many of the steep, testing banks and climbs meant grip was still at a premium.
TrialGP
As we’re so accustomed to seeing, Spanish superstar Toni Bou set the early pace, but after matching him section-for-section on yesterday’s second lap Jaime Busto kept the pressure firmly on from the start and with the entire field again defeated by the triple step of section eleven, Bou’s total of nine gave him a slim two-mark advantage over his younger rival at the halfway mark.
Demonstrating the dominance of the leading pair, after the first lap it was Italy’s Matteo Grattarola in third a further ten marks behind with Gabriel Marcelli fourth on twenty-two before a six-mark gap to Jorge Casales in fifth.
A maximum on the rocky climb of section four that he had cleaned at his first attempt put Busto on the back foot early on lap two and he had to settle for another second-placed finish as Bou ended the day on fourteen with an eleven-mark winning advantage.
“I am very happy with the win, and with our performance throughout the weekend,” Bou said. “It has been almost perfect. It is a pity about the mistake on Zone 11 on the second lap. We were able to recover the good feeling with the bike and I felt very good. During the two laps we were very consistent and made few mistakes. I am very happy with the result and with the work done by the entire team. The points we achieved are very important for the championship, where I have an important cushion of points that gives me peace of mind. We are already focused on the next round in Belgium.”
Marcelli found his groove on lap two, shaving ten marks off his first-lap total to end the day a clear third with Grattarola dropping to fourth on forty-three as Casales – a podium finisher yesterday – came home in fifth on fifty.
TrialGP Women class
After winning the opening three days of competition in the TrialGP Women class, Emma Bristow went off the boil on day two in Neunkirchen and was third at the end of the day as Spain’s Berta Abellan found her form to take her first win at this level since the opening round of 2023.
Tied with Italy’s Andrea Sofia Rabino on seven after the first lap, Abellan’s years of experience came into play during the second half of the Trial as she added just two more to her score, giving herself an eventual winning margin of six.
“I’m really, really happy,” said Abellan. “My first win this season has taken a lot of work so for me today has been perfect.”
With less than one week to regroup, the best Trial riders on the planet will be back in action this coming weekend (13-14 July) when all five classes reconvene for one day of points-paying competition at the TrialGP of Belgium at Comblain-au-Pont.
