It was a magical night for Repsol Honda HRC at the X-Trial Barcelona in the seventh round of the indoor World Championship. Toni Bou claimed his 19th victory at the Palau Sant Jordi, whilst Gabriel Marcelli finished third in his home race.
On the first lap, Bou completed the opening six sections with just one penalty point to his name, which propelled him to the top of the standings and secured his place in the final against Jaime Busto and Marcelli. In Super Pole, which determines the starting grid for the decisive sections, he once again demonstrated his immense dominance, setting the fastest time across all four sections with a time of 1:24.8.
For the first time in the history of the X-Trial World Championship, the final featured seven sections -adding a further challenge for the riders. Bou proved unstoppable, however, and with 12 points to his name, the Repsol Honda rider secured the win with one section to spare. The result extends Bou’s lead in the overall standings to 135 points.
It was also a great night for Marcelli, who returned to the podium after his fourth-place finish in Leeds, Great Britain, last time out. The Montesa Cota 4RT rider went all out from the first lap, and despite it not being his best performance, he qualified for the final. In the Super Pole session, he set a time of 2:41.5, which placed him second in the starting order for the final, behind Harry Hemingway.
In it, Marcelli battled for second place with Jaime Busto until the final section, ultimately securing third by just a single point. After seven rounds of the X-Trial World Championship season, the Repsol Honda rider maintains second place in the overall standings with 93 points, four points ahead of third.
The next round will be on March 6th in Chalon-sur-Saône, where Bou will have his first mathematical opportunity to clinch his 39th world title -his 20th in the indoor discipline. To achieve this, he must finish ahead of Marcelli, making it one of the most important rounds of the season.
Toni Bou
1
Repsol Honda HRC
“I’m incredibly happy and very proud of how the night went. This race is very special for me, and winning again at home is something you can’t take for granted, let alone doing it for the 19th time. I want to thank the team for all their hard work, because they gave their best performance at the Palau Sant Jordi tonight. We won the first lap and in the ‘Super Pole’ we managed to qualify in the best spot for the final, so I’m very satisfied with the result and the level we showed. It’s also a very important victory in terms of the title, as I’ll have my first chance to win it at the next race in Chalon-sur-Saône.”
“I’m incredibly happy and very proud of how the night went. This race is very special for me, and winning again at home is something you can’t take for granted, let alone doing it for the 19th time. I want to thank the team for all their hard work, because they gave their best performance at the Palau Sant Jordi tonight. We won the first lap and in the ‘Super Pole’ we managed to qualify in the best spot for the final, so I’m very satisfied with the result and the level we showed. It’s also a very important victory in terms of the title, as I’ll have my first chance to win it at the next race in Chalon-sur-Saône.”
Gabriel Marcelli
38
Repsol Honda HRC
“I’m not entirely happy with how the day went; it could have been better. I never quite found my rhythm on any of the laps, and it showed, especially in the final. We managed a third-place finish, which isn’t bad for the championship, but honestly, I would have liked a bit more, so I’m left with a bittersweet feeling. We’re still second overall, which is important, and now it’s time to analyse our mistakes, learn from them, and take another step forward in the next race. The sections were very difficult, especially in the final, where we accumulated a lot of points. Barcelona is always a tough trial, we know that, so we’ll have to train harder and hope that the next one goes better.”
“I’m not entirely happy with how the day went; it could have been better. I never quite found my rhythm on any of the laps, and it showed, especially in the final. We managed a third-place finish, which isn’t bad for the championship, but honestly, I would have liked a bit more, so I’m left with a bittersweet feeling. We’re still second overall, which is important, and now it’s time to analyse our mistakes, learn from them, and take another step forward in the next race. The sections were very difficult, especially in the final, where we accumulated a lot of points. Barcelona is always a tough trial, we know that, so we’ll have to train harder and hope that the next one goes better.”
Takahisa Fujinami
–
Repsol Honda HRC
“We knew Barcelona was going to be a tough race, with difficult sections and a lot of pressure, but the team responded well to these challenging conditions. I’m very happy with today’s result. Toni’s victory is very important for the overall standings and once again demonstrates his ability to make a difference. Gabri also scored valuable points that allow us to remain well positioned in the fight for the championship. Although it wasn’t his best performance, he saved the day with a podium finish. We leave here satisfied, learning from our mistakes so we can continue to improve, and feeling confident about the upcoming races.”
“We knew Barcelona was going to be a tough race, with difficult sections and a lot of pressure, but the team responded well to these challenging conditions. I’m very happy with today’s result. Toni’s victory is very important for the overall standings and once again demonstrates his ability to make a difference. Gabri also scored valuable points that allow us to remain well positioned in the fight for the championship. Although it wasn’t his best performance, he saved the day with a podium finish. We leave here satisfied, learning from our mistakes so we can continue to improve, and feeling confident about the upcoming races.”
