Bust overcomes Bou at the opening of the World Trials Championship in Arteix

He Trials World Championship al fresco started with surprises. In the first check of the competition, held yesterday in Arteixo, Toni Bou (Montesa) abdicated the throne as the undisputed leader. Jaime Bust (GasGas) celebrated over the defending champion who collected nine penalty points in the last stages of the first round. He scored only one point in the ninth section of the first round, which he reached without a nail, just like yesterday’s winner.

It was the tenth that put the great champion in big trouble. He did not only punish Bou, but also other drivers, such as the Galician Marcelli, Raga and Gelabert. That’s where Busto shone, who was very consistent: he gave up only one point. On the other hand, Bou received three in the eleventh period. The Montesa man was unable to regain the distance in the second, despite the improvement in the trajectory of the GasGas driver. In this segment, Raga was the best, thanks to those good moments, she finished fourth, fourteen points behind the winner and two from the podium, one of which was closed by Marcelli. Another Galician driver, Jorge Casales, finished eighth.

In the general classification, Busto is the first leader of the World Cup with 20 points, 3 more than Bou and 5 more than O Rosal.

Berta Abellán (Scorpa) took the test in the women’s category. He managed it with only four penalty points, five less than Rabin (Beta). Bristow (Sherco), the reigning champion, took third place.

Before the World Cup moves to Portugal, Sunday morning (8:30 am) will be the second day in Arteix.

Bust: “I never expected to be so far ahead”

“I am very happy. I never expected to be so far ahead. I felt very comfortable with the bike,” explained Jaime Busto in a statement to the International Motorcycle Federation at the end of the race. The pilot, who is 25, said he had “a feeling incredible” with a bike from the first zone. “We’ve been working pretty well all preseason, but I didn’t expect this. I felt amazing and let’s see if we can do it again tomorrow,” he said.

Bou was “happy” to reach the podium in second place after the problems he had in the final part of the first lap. “The race was very, very easy, but I had a small mistake in section ten with a big crash, another small mistake in section eleven and it was impossible to get those points back. I think the second position is not so bad for the championship,” he said.

As for Galicia’s Marcelli, he thinks third place in the first round of the World Cup is “a good way to start the season”. “The track was quite easy, but that complicated the race because we couldn’t make any mistakes,” he specified.