Report: X-Trial des Nations
By Team TMX on 7th Apr 16
TO the surprise of no-one the two-man Spanish team claimed their countrys tenth consecutive FIM X-Trial des Nations victory when the event was staged last Friday evening in Nice, France.
But there was a surprise in the week leading into the event when first choice rider, ten times X-Trial champ Toni Bou pulled out of the event following a training crash in which he injured his shoulder.
And with the 2016 FIM Trial World Championship kicking off this weekend Bou's Repsol Honda team decided to get their man checked-out and a course of intensive therapy put in place to put him in the best possible shape, as he seeks a tenth outdoor title to match his indoor tally.
So World vice champion – in both disciplines – Adam Raga was drafted in as a last-minute replacement and the factory TRS riders joined 18-year-old Jaime Busto, as the 2016 rules stated that one of the two team members must be under 25 years of age.
Swapping the world No.1 for the No.2 was never really going to be much handicap for Spain.
So, Raga and Busto were joined in competition by home French pairing Alexandre Ferrer and Benoit Bincaz, with Britain featuring 19-year-old Welsh Champ Iwan Roberts along with the experienced X-Trial competitor James Dabill.
Italy featured Matteo Grattarola and Gianluca Tournour, while the outsiders on the night were plucky Team USA with their young team of Bryan Roper and Andrew Putt.
The format was firstly a speed section, as a variation from the usual head-to-head races, where one member of each team posted a time, the fastest team went last in the sections and the slowest would show the way.
Slowest to fastest on the first lap were Roper, Dabill, Bincaz and a surprisingly fleet Tournour ,while Busto gave Spain every opportunity to suss-out the sections with the quickest time.
Team managers then had to decide which of his riders would ride which sections on the opening lap, taking into account that on the second lap the riders would have to switch sections, and on the second lap the direction would be reversed, making them considerably harder.
The only thing that could maybe upset Spain's unbeaten record in the X-Trial des Nations was mistakes in an easy competition.
And after the opening lap this was very much on the cards as Ferrer and Bincaz gave the home fans plenty to shout about as they emerged level with Spain on a single mark, dropped by Raga and Ferrer on the tricky third section
The Italian duo popped up in a surprise third place just ahead of Dibs and Iwan with the American youngsters bringing up the rear, having opened-up all the sections – somewhat cruel given their lack of indoor experience.
Lap two saw the contestants tackling the sections they avoided first time round and the severity was a lot harder.
This was just what the Spanish team needed and with the team manager having picked the right sections for the right rider, Raga and Busto slowly drew ahead of the French and although they put up admirable resistance, second place was always going to be theirs.
The Italians hung in there well and also pulled out an impressive advantage over Team GB, who had to settle for a disappointing fourth ahead of the Americans.
