Report: Hungary X-Trial World Championship 2019
By John Dickinson on 24th Jan 19
The 2019 X-Trial World Championship kicked-off in Budapest, Hungary, on Sunday afternoon with the results going exactly to plan.
Toni Bou made the perfect start to his quest for a 13th consecutive World Indoor title and perpetual runner-up Adam Raga ended the evening as - runner-up in the opening round!
The Championship, in its second year running under the 2Play organisation, followed the same format as introduced last year with one minor tweak.
The nine competitors first contested three heats, run over five sections, with the riders with the worst three scores being eliminated.
This was followed by two more Qualifiers of three riders each, this time over six sections.
Winner of each heat in Round 2 irrespective of score went forward to the two-man final.
The twist this year was a run-off over four sections between the next two riders for third place.
Back to the beginning, though, and the nine-man field included Britains Dan Peace, the Sherco rider replacing his Spanish team-mate Miquel Gelabert who had been ruled out through injury. Dan joined James Dabill to make it two Brits in the opening round. Just as younger sibling Jack had been thrown in the deep end at Sheffield, newly-signed Sherco rider Dan was pitched head first into his first X-Trial in Budapest.
First man out in the opening heat it was no surprise to see the talented east Yorks rider collect a full-house maximum in a trial-by-fire debut.
Japanese crowd favourite Takahisa Fujinami on the Repsol Montesa joined Dan on the non-qualifiers list but Vertigos Jorge Casales progressed to the second round with a 15 mark score.
Heat two had James Dabill out on the factory Beta but three fives and a total score of 16 saw Dibs disappointingly packing up for the night without progressing to the second round.
Gas Gas star Jeroni Fajardo dropped 11 and progressed nicely as did Frenchman Benoit Bincaz, on Beta this year, with a 13 mark effort.
This brought the proceedings to the Big Guns in heat three.
Jaime Busto on the Gas Gas wasnt on top form and struggled to a 13-mark opening lap but veteran TRRS team leader Raga looked sharp, showing what could be done opening with a dab, then taking two cleans before dropping his lone five and finishing with another clean for a very tidy lap of six.
Unfortunately for Adam, he had just shown Toni what was and wasnt possible and after an opening section prod, Repsol Hondas star turn logged four perfect scores to qualify first.
Round 2 saw Raga, Fajardo and Casales lead the way into the six hazards and just like the opening round it turned out to be close, with the margin between success and failure being a fine one at this level.
Adam just had the edge with a dab in the second section which was fived by his rivals, and that just gave him the edge although Fajardo fought back well with a two-dab ride in the fifth which Raga failed.
The final grouping was Bincaz, Busto and Bou, with all three looking good although Bou always had the edge and qualified top with the lowest score of the two Qualifiers just two against six for Busto and eight for Bincaz, who took a maximum on the fifth while looking good.
So we came to the first run-off of 2019, for third place, contested over four sections between the Gas Gas factory duo of Busto and Fajardo. And it was the elder statesman of the team that put it over the young gun, Busto making two big mistakes leaving Jeroni in a clear third place having dropped just two marks.
So, it was down to the Big Two as old foes Bou and Raga lined-up for the first time in 2019.
And it wasnt a walk in the park for Toni as Adam actually drew first blood, easing through the opening hazard for a dab while Toni dropped a surprise three marks.
Bou moved ahead at the next though as Adam fived with Toni taking a prod. Both then cleaned the third before Raga fived the fourth and it looked all over as Toni once again dabbed.
The fifth was tough and Adam gave himself a chance with a three-mark effort as Toni collected his first maximum of the night.
The scores were Bou 10 and Raga 14. Adam needed a clean to put the pressure on the reigning 12-times X-Trial champ. And he kept himself in the game with just that.
It was all down to Toni now but he was never going to lose this one and matched Adams clean to take victory and the lead in the series.
The series now looks ahead to X-Trial Barcelona, on Sunday, February 3, in the impressive Palau Sant Jordi stadium, in Montjuic Park, built for the Olympic Games in 1992.
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