Repsol Honda Trial Team take on X-Trial World Championship round in Pamplona
Toni Bou reaches the third round of the season as the series leader and his teammate Gabriel Marcelli third, heading into Pamplona’s first X-Trial Championship round.
On next Saturday, Pamplona will host the X-Trial World Championship for the first time. The Navarra Arena will be the venue for the third round of the season, in a series that sees Toni Bou leading the standings and Gabriel Marcelli third.
After taking second place in Austria and winning the opening round at the Palau Sant Jordi, Bou has 38 points overall, and the 32-time World Champion will look for another win to extend his 5-point advantage over his nearest rival.
Teammate Marcelli remains in the Top 3 overall, thanks to his second position in Barcelona and fourth place in Austria. The Repsol Honda Trial Team rider’s goal on Saturday is to continue in the fight for the title and get back onto the podium.
The third round of the season will begin at 7pm local time on Saturday at the Navarra Arena.
Toni Bou 1
CHAMPIONSHIP: 1ST
“Having new venues is fantastic, I am very happy about it. In Pamplona we will try to fight for the win; we have to be competitive and stay at the top. The most important thing will be to go through each round trying not to accumulate many penalty points. It’s going to be a very tight season, as it has been in recent years, and any mistake can leave you out of the fight. It will be fundamental not to make mistakes, to stay focused and make a difference where possible.”
Gabriel Marcelli 38
CAMPEONATO: 3º
“It’s very good that different places have been encouraged to organise Trial competitions and I hope that it is a high-level race. The first two rounds were very close, in Austria we missed getting into the final by a very small margin, so we face the third round with a lot of enthusiasm. The objective in Pamplona will be to fight for victory and earn as many points as possible, to close the gap in the standings.”
Takahisa Fujinami
Team Manager
“We are very happy with Pamplona’s inclusion on the calendar. It’s another home round and that means extra motivation for our riders. We hope it will be a good race, with very spectacular sections. In the championship, Toni is first and Gabri third, and our goal is to be at the top to repeat the results we had in Barcelona. We have trained hard and we are ready for the third round of the season.”
