The time has come for our trial magicians to start the 2023 FIM X-Trial World Championship! Beginning this weekend at the ‘Cathedral of X-Trial’ in Barcelona, GASGAS Factory Racing’s Jaime Busto and Sondre Haga will dive into the eight-round series as they get down to business at what is their first world championship event of the year. What’s really cool, the championship opener literally take place just around the corner from the team’s workshop!
Well prepared thanks to months of training and testing, together with several pre-season indoor outings across Europe, both Jaime and Sondre come into the 2023 X-Trial series fired-up and hungry for success.
Third in the X-Trial World Championship last season, followed by a runner-up result in the 2022 TrialGP series, both Jaime Busto, and the team, are looking to the top step of the podium. Knowing that dethroning multi-time champion Toni Bou will be anything but easy, taking the challenge to the G.O.A.T. is exactly what Busto has worked tirelessly towards since joining GASGAS.
For Sondre Haga, the 2023 X-Trial series will allow the defending Trial2 World Champion to compete face-to-face with the world’s best indoor trial riders. Using the X-Trial series, and the Spanish Trial Championship, as a key part of his preparation for the defense of his Trial2 title, Haga is 100% ready to learn, learn, and learn some more!
Jaime Busto: “Being back in the GASGAS team has given me extra motivation to race another X-Trial season. In the past years I have had my ups and downs in this discipline and that’s something I want to leave behind. I have been training a lot during the pre-season to try to make my results more consistent, something I want to show from the first race. Also, I had some areas where I needed to improve my riding, so that has been another thing that I have put a lot of time into in recent months. I have a new bike and a new team for this season, and I believe that we can do a great job together.”
Sondre Haga: “I think that we have done everything we could to be ready for X-Trial. Of course, it’s difficult when you change teams and bikes as you have to adapt to a lot of new things. But I have to say that I’m very happy with the bike and the team and I’m really looking forward to competing in some indoors this season, to gain more experience. Last year I was close to making it to the final in some rounds so for this season the goal is going to be to make it to a final. it’s not a secret that Busto and I have great bikes, and I’ve been enjoying riding mine a lot, it’s a great engine and chassis package. I have been doing as many hours as possible to get ready for the first X-Trial round, I can’t wait to get into the stadium and start competing.”