FOURTH PLACE FOR BUSTO AT X-TRIAL SWITZERLAND

It was a die-hard performance by Jaime Busto at round four of FIM X-Trial World Championship in Switzerland. But a couple of small mistakes in the first two rounds cost the GASGAS Factory Racing star dearly, ruling him out of the grand final by just one mark. Jaime finished in fourth place overall and now ranks third in the series standings.

• Busto finishes fourth at X-Trial round four
• Spaniard misses the final by just one mark
• TXT GP 300 rider now holds third overall in the championship standings

Getting his night in the Geneva Arena off to a strong start, Busto cleaned the first section of round one in style – the first rider to do so. After another clean on section two, Jaime looked well-placed to finish round one inside the top three. However, a failure on a huge step on section three knocked the Spaniard’s confidence, and two subsequent fives placed him in fourth position going into the second round.

Busto made another solid start to round two, cleaning section one in super-fast time and again looking on form heading into the second section. An unfortunate error early in the section resulted in Jaime being awarded a five, and with another five on the super-tough third section, he needed to clean the fourth and final section of the round in order to be in with a chance of qualifying for the final.

Demonstrating his skill and aggression, Busto did what he had to do and cleaned the fourth section of round two, putting him on 25 points for the first two rounds combined. Unfortunately for the TXT GP 300 rider, it ultimately wasn’t quite enough. Missing out on the grand final by just one point resulted in Jaime having to settle for fourth overall on the night, dropping him to third overall in the 2024 X-Trial Championship standings.

Jaime and GASGAS Factory Racing now shift their focus to the outdoors and the first round of the FIM TrialGP World Championship, to be held in Japan from May 17-19.

Jaime Busto: “I’m really disappointed after tonight. I was so motivated to do well here in Switzerland ahead of the break, but things just didn’t go my way. A mistake in the first round put me on the back foot a little, but I went into round two giving it everything I had. The first section went really well, but then on the second, I jumped down from one obstacle and the next one moved a little and I lost my balance. Unfortunately, with the results so tight here tonight, I just missed out on getting through to the final. Third overall now, but only a few points back from second. TrialGP starts in a couple of weeks so I’m looking forward to that."

Results – 2024 X-Trial World Championship, Round 4
1. Toni Bou (Montesa) 22 final
2. Gabriel Marcelli (Montesa) 26 final
3. Toby Martyn (Montesa) 28 final
4. Jaime Busto (GASGAS) 25 round 2

2024 X-Trial Championship Standings (after round 4)
1. Toni Bou (Montesa) 86
2. Gabriel Marcelli (Montesa) 55
3. Jaime Busto (GASGAS) 52