Matteo Grattarola set to join Trial2 scrap
By John Dickinson on 9th Feb 18
Trial World Championship Matteo Grattarola
Eight-times Italian Champion Matteo Grattarola (Montesa) who has just turned 30, will be targeting the Trial2 title during the 2018 TrialGP season.
Grattarola, who finished 10th overall in the 2017 TrialGP campaign, with seventh spot at TrialGP Great Britain being his best result during 2017, drops down a class to join the battle for the Trial2 crown, the class restricted to two-strokes of 250cc or 300cc four-strokes.
Grattarola certainly has the pedigree to confirm himself as a real contender in what will very likely be the most hotly contested class in the new look TrialGP series.
Since moving up to the premier division back in 2010 Matteo has never placed outside the top-10 rankings, although he was absent from the FIM Trial World Championship during 2015. A friend and training partner of reigning TrialGP Champion Toni Bou (Repsol Honda) Grattarola will also be four-stroke mounted in 2018 having made the switch to a Montesa Cota 4RT during this winter.
French ace Loris Gubian (Gas Gas) also drops down from TrialGP to battle for the Trial2 crown that was won by Britains Iwan Roberts.
The former TrialGP duo will be looking to fight off last years vice-champion Gabriel Marcelli (Montesa) and other top-five ranked riders like Spains Francesc Moret (Montesa) British pairing Toby Martyn, having switched from Vertigo to Montesa and Dan Peace (Gas Gas) plus 2017 Trial125 Champion, Italian Lorenzo Gandola (Scorpa).
With Trial2 entries having already reached 80 per cent of capacity it looks odds on that this class will be oversubscribed come the opening TrialGP Spain event on May 19/ 20.
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