Bou makes it a treble in Nice

The Champion takes another victory with the same podium finishers after a tie-break for second place

Toni Bou (Repsol Honda Trial Team) took his third win of the 2024 X-Trial season in Nice, winning convincingly in a very demanding Final which he dominated from the start.  The 17-time World Champion, who dropped just one point en route to winning the first Round, was beaten by Jaime Busto (GasGas) in the second Round after a five-mark score in the third Section, dropping his first Championship point of the season.  

Victory already seemed assured for Bou after the first two Sections of the Grand Final, which saw Busto and Gabriel Marcelli (Repsol Honda Trial Team) both drop seven marks while Bou dropped only two.  Thereafter Bou would drop 11 further marks and his rivals 20 apiece, and Bou was assured of victory even before starting the penultimate Section.  

Second place was decided on a tie-break and was taken by Busto over Marcelli, the latter only just making the Final after struggling in the second Round.  He finished on the same total as Toby Martyn (Montesa) and two less than an unlucky Benoit Bincaz (Sherco) who had a great first Round and only missed out on the Final with a five-mark score in the last Section of Round Two.  

Adam Raga (Sherco) was third in the second Round but was eliminated largely thanks to a 14-mark score in Round One, while Matteo Grattarola (Beta) was seventh after a disappointing second Round and Téo Colairo (Beta) completed the finishers in a packed Palais Nikaia.  

Bou (1st): “I am very happy because I am having a spectacular and very effective start to the season. The truth is that I feel better test by test and this is very important. Today’s final was very demanding as shown by the fact that I only got a zero and my rivals none.  We have once again done a great job that consolidates me in first place in the Championship standings.”  

Busto (2nd): “The final was not good, but I am satisfied with the second position. In fact, I felt good on the bike but I failed in the final parts of some areas. This week I hurt my leg training and I thought it would be worse. For all this, I am super happy.”  

Marcelli (3rd): “The most positive thing today is the podium. I haven’t felt well at all from the beginning, my arms have gotten very tired and I’m not at all satisfied with how I’ve ridden throughout the test. For this reason, the podium is a great reward thinking about the championship and now we have to polish some details for the following tests.”  

The fourth Round of the season will be held in Geneva on May 4th – can Bou make it four from four?