2023 TrialGP Team Transfers
By John Dickinson on 3rd Mar 23
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While World #1 Toni Bou (above) continues to head-up the all-powerful Repsol Honda squad, alongside protege Gabriel Marcelli and managed by former world champ Takahisa Fujinami, all the fun has been going on behind him in the ranks...
World #2 Jaime Busto has left home factory Vertigo, with whom he claimed his highest ever ranking, to join rival Catalan company GASGAS – the marque rejuvenated under the KTM banner.
GASGAS will be really looking for a return on their investment, with the toppling of King Toni Bou the prime objective. Busto was the original 'young gun' to be placed under Bou at Repsol Honda but was impatient to be a team leader and shocked many when he left the undisputed number one team to ride for firstly GASGAS, then Vertigo – and now back to the all-new GASGAS set-up.
Will 2023 be the year that the 25-year-old forces his way to the top?
The next big change is with World #4, veteran Italian Matteo Grattarola – who has nailed the Vertigo factory's team leader role following the exit of Busto.
The 35-year-old is an excellent example of never, ever, giving up and of re-inventing yourself. Grattarola toiled away in the TrialGP series from 2010 to 2017 without ever setting the scene on fire.
Then in 2018 he dropped down to Trial2 and instantly bagged the class World Championship. He followed-up with runner-up spot in 2019 and then took the title again in 2020.
Returning to the TrialGP series, a rejuvenated Grattarola then took a surprise fourth place in 2021 and repeated the result in 2022 – to be rewarded with the #1 spot at Vertigo.
British Champ Toby Martyn, and our only contender in the elite FIM TrialGP class, provided a shock when he announced in early December that he was leaving TRRS after three years where he won two British Championships and one Trial2 World title.
Now, hands-up all who thought it was nailed-on that he would sign for Dougie Lampkin and Vertigo? Just me then, as hindsight has left everyone else off the hook!
The shock came on January 5, the day before the DL12 Sheffield Indoor, that he had signed to ride Montesa, via Club Jitsie and thus re-igniting the partnership he enjoyed in the 2018 season!
Toby nailed a superb fourth place at Sheffield, first time out on the four-stroke – and began a whole new chapter in his trials career...
Other notable changes on the International front are French Trial GP regular Benoit Bincaz, who makes move from GASGAS to Sherco while the most successful Norwegian rider in history, reigning Trial2 World Champion, Sondre Haga, drops into the vacant slot at GASGAS alongside fellow new signing Jaime Busto.
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