TrialGP: Rd1 race report - Benahavis, Spain
By Team TMX on 7th Apr 25
The 2025 Hertz FIM Trial World Championship got underway in Benahavis, Spain with an all-new event format that offers riders four – potentially six if the Power Section segment runs according to plan – point-scoring opportunities during a GP weekend with each lap, now called a race and carrying world championship points. The overall result of each day is based on the points awarded from each race which put a nice fresh spin on proceedings.
In TrialGP, Repsol Honda’s Toni Bou won three races from four as he attempts to win his 38th world title. By finishing second in the remaining race, he already leads the world championship by 10 points over second-placed Jaime Busto (GASGAS) who ran 3-3 2-1 over the weekend. Gabriel Marcelli (Repsol Honda) is third in points after running 2-2 on day one before slipping to 4-3 finishes on day two. Britain’s Jack Peace (Sherco) survived a horrendous-looking crash on day one to rack up race results of 7-8 on Saturday and 6-5 on Sunday. He sits sixth in points after round one.
Trial2 delivered some wild results – as is the norm for this class – which has played into the hands of former champion Billy Green who has already eked out a 13-point advantage over British Champion Harry Hemingway (Beta) and class newcomer Benoit Bincaz (Electric Motion) who drops down from TrialGP in an attempt to become the first Trial World Champion on an electric bike.
Green was dominant on the opening day, winning both races, as the other contenders failed to find consistency. Bincaz took second overall on day one with 4-3 race results with Hemingway third thanks to 8-2 finishes. Sherco’s Harry Turner dropped 12 marks on each lap which translated to 3-8 finishes which left him tied on points with Sondre Haga (GASGAS) who ran 2-10. Sherco’s Arnau Farre placed sixth with 5-6 score while young Brits Jack Dance (GASGAS) and George Hemingway (Beta) tied on 18 world championship points apiece – Dance’s results being 9-5 while George placed seventh in each race. The Brits bested Honda’s Miquel Gelabert – another TrialGP rider hired to chase the Trial2 title on an electric bike. He failed to score in race one, placing 16th, but bounced back to fourth in race two.
Day two in Trial2 was interesting for several reasons. The big story was a Brit 1-2-3 on the podium as the Hemingways and Green topped the field through consistency – George winning the GP with 2-3 finishes, Harry taking the runner-up spot with a 4-2 and Green placing 3-4 to secure third overall.
Bincaz ran 1-9 to bag fourth overall while in fifth place was Frenchman David Fabian (Beta) who bounced back from a disastrous first lap where he ranked 29th to set the best score on lap two to win the race and collect 20 championship points. On total marks lost, how points were paid out prior to this year, Fabian would have finished 15th and received one championship point. Interestingly he ran 15-15 on day one.
Norway’s Jonas Jorgensen leads the Trial3 championship after running 1-2 2-1 across the weekend, topping the podium on both days. US import Ryon Land (Sherco) placed second overall on Saturday with 6-1 results, beating Harison Skelton (Scorpa) and Jin Kuroyama (Sherco) courtesy of the better second race tiebreaker. Skelton had run 3-3 while Kuroyama put in a 2-4 scorecard. Scot Euan Sim (Sherco) had a 5-6 day for fifth overall with Max Dance (GASGAS) and Thomas Le Breton also adding points to their account – Dance placing 12th in both races while Le Breton improved to 15th in race two after placing 18th in the opener.
Kuroyama and Land landed on the podium with winner Jorgensen on day two – Kuroyama going 1-6 and Land running 5-2. Skelton tied Kuroyama and beat Land on marks lost for the day but that means nothing as his race scores (4-4) left him tied with Sim who ran 3-5. Dance went 10-13 but Le Breton and Harrison Lightfoot both missed out on scoring points.
In the series standings Jorgensen leads on 74, Kuroyama is second with 60, Land third with 58 with Skelton a solid fourth on 56 – nine ahead of fifth-placed Sim. Dance is currently ranked 11th with Le Breton the last of the points scorers in 18th spot.
In the TrialGP Women class, Scorpa’s Berta Abellan leads the way after the opening two days of action ahead of Andrea Sofia Rabino (Beta) and Denisa Pechackova (TRRS). Brits Alice Minta (Beta) and Kaytlyn Adshead (Sherco) are ranked fourth and fifth with Alicia Robinson 10 after the first two days of action.
Rabino took the overall victory on day one – 1-2 finishes getting the job done. Abellan had a rocky start but a 5-1 scorecard was more than good enough for her to secure second overall. Pechackova bagged third with 3-4 results with Minta fourth courtesy of 8-3 results. Adshead tied on points with Minta, her 2-10 scorecard paying out 23 points too. 10-9 laps put Robinson 10th for the day.
Abellan stepped up her game for day two and won both races with ease to collect a 40-point maximum. A 2-4 for Rabino put her in the runner-up spot ahead of Pechackova. Beta mounted Naomi Monnier improved to fourth overall with 3-5 finishes while Minta (7-3) and Adshead (4-8) rounded out the top six. 10th placed Robinson kept things nice and simple by placing 10th in both races.
Trial2 Women rookie Matilda Arbon (Sherco) claimed victory on day one – her 3-1 finishes beating Sara Trentini (TRRS) on the better last race tiebreaker. Electric Motion’s Margaux Pena joined them on the podium with 6-2 results. Further back in the pack, Sophie Bailey (GASGAS) placed fifth on the day with Holly Dixon (Beta) 10th, Briana King (GASGAS) 11th and Sophie Ferguson (Beta) 12th.
Trentini aced day two with a solid 1-2 scorecard although Pena was unlucky to have lost out on a tiebreaker to Daniela Hernando (Beta) in race one as that cost her the overall victory on a day where she dropped fewer marks than the overall winner – but that’s the new format for you. Pena’s second race was exceptional as she won by eight marks. Pena had to be content with second overall – her 3-1 scorecard getting the better of Hernando’s 2-4.
Bailey bagged fourth with 5-3 finishes as Arbon slipped to eighth – her 9-7 beating Dixon’s 8-8 although they both scored 17 championship points. King and Ferguson placed 10th and 11th on the day – King running 10-11 while Ferguson ranked 12th and 10th.
In the Trial2 Women Championship standings, Trentini leads on 72 ahead of Pena with 62, Arbon on 51 and Bailey and Hernando tied on 49. Dixon is ninth with 28, King has 21 in 11th and Ferguson is currently placed 12th with 19 points.
The championship now moves to Viana do Castelo in Portugal, the Atlantic seaport hosting round two of the championship on April 11-13.
