GASGAS Factory Racing’s Jaime Busto has got his 2023 FIM Trial World Championship campaign off to a storming start by dominating the opening day of competition at round one of the series – the TrialGP of Spain – at Arteixo this weekend. After delivering a commanding performance that saw the 26-year-old finish as top TrialGP class performer on Saturday, Busto placed a close second to Toni Bou on day two to share the championship lead heading into round two!
With the global trial community focused on the event in the north-west of Spain, Busto was in a class of his own on day one, full of confidence and topping the opening day of the series just as he had 12 months earlier in 2022. In control from the off, Jaime led Bou by seven marks after the opening lap before ending the day six ahead of his rival to claim the top step of the podium!
Day two delivered much drier conditions than Saturday, and Busto immediately set out to keep the pressure firmly on Bou. Unfortunately, a small mistake early in the day would effectively end his hopes of back-to-back wins. Putting the error behind him, Busto went on to complete another day of impressive riding, ultimately finishing just three marks behind his fellow Spaniard in second. The GASGAS TXT GP 300 rider now heads into round two in Portugal tied on points at the top of the standings.
Kicking off the defense of his Trial2 title, Norway’s Sondre Haga was forced to fight hard throughout Saturday following a five in the opening section. With mistakes proving to be hugely costly, Haga battled on to a third-place finish. The 23-year-old then slipped to ninth on Sunday at the end of another low-scoring day where a single mistake was all it took to lose a place on the podium.
Jaime Busto: “It’s been a really great weekend for me. I didn’t expect it to be this good. Yesterday I got the win, and it was amazing from section one and I felt incredible on the bike. I was able to make it happen on day one and this was a perfect way to start the season. Unfortunately today I made a mistake in one of the sections and as it was a low-scoring trial, it was impossible to recover from that. I pushed until the end and I was able to pull some points back so that’s good. I had an amazing feeling. Let’s hope when we go to Portugal I can repeat my form from day one.”
Sondre Haga: “I started off the first day with a five in the first section, which is never good, but I fought into third position and I’m happy about. that. On Sunday I started off the same way with a five and I needed to build on a bad first lap. I am not happy to have such a bad day when it has been such low-scoring trial, but we will build on the good things and come back stronger next weekend in Portugal.”
Results: TrialGP of Spain
TrialGP – day 1
1. Jaime Busto (GASGAS) 7
2. Toni Bou (Montesa) 13
3. Gabriel Marcelli (Montesa) 21
Trial2 – day 1
1. Pablo Suarez (Montesa) 9
2. Arnau Farre (Sherco) 13
3. Sondre Haga (GASGAS) 18
9. Jack Dance (GASGAS) 42
TrialGP – day 2
1. Toni Bou (Montesa) 14
2. Jaime Busto (GASGAS) 17
3. Adam Raga (TRRS) 32
Trial2 – day 2
1. Jack Peace (Sherco) 13
2. Billy Green (Scorpa) 14
3. Pablo Suarez (Montesa)
9. Sondre Haga (GASGAS) 28
15. Jack Dance (GASGAS) 42
Championship standings (after round 1)
TrialGP
1. Toni Bou (Montesa) 37
2. Jaime Busto (GASGAS) 37
3. Adam Raga (TRRS) 28
Trial2
1. Pablo Suarez (Montesa) 35
2. Jack Peace (Sherco) 30
3. Billy Green (Scorpa) 28
6. Sondre Haga (GASGAS) 22
12. Jack Dance (GASGAS) 8