Toni Bou (Montesa) isn now closer to his eighteenth straight TrialGP title and Emma Bristow (Sherco) was back on top in TrialGP Women as the 2024 Hertz FIM Trial World Championship travelled to Belgium. In Trial2 Arnau Farré (Sherco) claimed his third win of the campaign while Euan Sim (Sherco) upset the formbook with victory in Trial3 and Sara Trentini (TRRS) came away with maximum points in the FIM Women’s Trial2 World Cup.
Returning to the fantastic facility at Comblain-au-Pont for the TrialGP of Belgium for the first time since 2022, the world’s leading Trial riders knew Sunday’s single day of competition would provide a suitably tough challenge, but torrential rain on Friday resulted in extremely testing conditions – especially on the second half of the course that was under tree cover and never really dried out.
Bou, of course, is in his element when the going gets tough and the Spanish superstar took the lead halfway around the opening lap before opening up an unassailable advantage, although the second half of the lap accounted for fourteen of the twenty marks he lost on observation. A single mark on time boosted Bou’s first-lap total to twenty-one which put him ten clear of his compatriot and closest challenger Jorge Casales (TRRS) who in turn was two ahead of Gabriel Marcelli (Montesa) whose total included two time penalties.
It was Marcelli who set the pace on lap two as he powered his way through the sections based in and around a quarry and wooded hillside overlooking the town with the twenty-four-year-old Spaniard adding another seventeen to his score – one less than Bou – to make sure of second as Adam Raga (Sherco)completed the podium with a total of fifty-four.
“It’s been a nice day for the championship,” said Bou. “I rode pretty good in some sections and made a few mistakes in others, but I’m very happy with the win.”
Casales’ hopes of a podium finish disappeared on lap two when he picked up an additional twenty-six marks and he ended the day in fifth after Jaime Busto (GASGAS) pulled level on the final section of lap two before winning the tie-break for fourth.
