Bringing the four-round 2020 FIM TrialGP World Championship to a hugely positive close, GASGAS Factory Racing team riders Albert Cabestany and Jorge Casales both come away from the TrialGP of Italy having delivered their best results of the season. For Cabestany, the final round of the Trial-E World Cup was a time to shine as the experienced Spaniard went 1-1 to wrap-up his second electric title. For Casales, the series finale ended with superb 2-3 TrialGP results.
Determined to end his 2020 TrialGP campaign on a high, Jorge Casales entered the final round of the series focused on podium results. Third both times out at round three, the GP of Andorra, Jorge went one better on day one in Italy to earn his best result of the season. Liking the man-made sections and feeling confident, despite dropping five maximum scores on lap one he kept his focus to complete the day on a total of 61 marks lost, good enough for a well-deserved runner-up result behind newly crowned world champion Toni Bou.
Although making a handful of errors during the morning of day two, Casales again rode well, pushing hard during the second and third laps. Not quite able to repeat his day one result, nevertheless he finished a strong third, just six marks behind the day’s runner-up. In concluding his 2020 TrialGP campaign with 2-3 results, Casales secured fourth in the final championship standings.
The fourth and final stop of the 2020 TrialGP World Championship was also the second and final round of the Trial-E World Cup. Coming into the event some six points down on then series leader Gael Chatagno, GASGAS Factory Racing’s Albert Cabestany knew that he needed to win both days of competition at the TrialGP of Italy. Well-used to delivering his best while under pressure, the vastly experienced Spaniard made light work of the Italian sections on his GASGAS TXE, completing day one with just seven marks lost and taking the win.
With the Trial-E title well within his grasp, Cabestany kept the pressure on during day two and in dropping just five marks secured the day win. With it, he lifted the FIM Trial-E World Cup for a second consecutive season, handing GASGAS their fourth Trial-E World Cup title.
Jorge Casales: “To finish what has been a tough season with these very positive results feels so good. Everyone at GASGAS was really looking forward to this season, and despite not getting the results we wanted at the first two events we kept working and improving and finishing with 2-3 results is a great reward for everyone. We re-grouped for this final trial and things have gone very well. I felt my riding was good and my bike was incredible. Being competitive at the final round of the series gives us all a lot of motivation to be even more prepared for 2021. Generally, both days here have been good, only a few mistakes on the first lap today, day two, but after those I rode consistently and got another podium result. A very positive end to the championship.”
Albert Cabestany: “It feels great to win another Trial-E title, and also to finish the championship is a very positive way. This is a great result for both myself and GASGAS. We had some very strong competition this year, they really showed us at the first round that they had worked a lot during the off-season and that they had very good machinery and riders. We knew that we needed to do our very best here this weekend, that we needed to win both days. We started working hard after the opening round of the championship, and the team really did work very hard to make improvements. The sections this weekend were not too difficult, so I knew that being focused and riding consistently, without silly mistakes, would be so, so important. To keep this title, it means a lot to me and GASGAS.”
Results: FIM Trial World Championship 2020, Round 4
TrialGP – day 1
1. Toni Bou (Montesa) 39; 2. Jorge Casales (GASGAS) 61; 3. Jaime Busto (Vertigo) 66; 4. Takahisa Fujinami (Montesa) 70; 5. Jeroni Fajardo (Sherco) 73; 6. Marchelli Gabriel (Montesa) 73… 8. Miquel Gelabert (GASGAS) 79
Trial-E – day 1
1. Albert Cabestany (GASGAS) 7; 2. Gael Chatagno (Electric Motion) 25; 3. Julien Perret (Electric Motion) 61; 4. Jerome Delair (Electric Motion) 114
TrialGP – day 2
1. Toni Bou (Montesa) 20; 2. Jeroni Fajardo (Sherco) 55; 3. Jorge Casales (GASGAS) 61; 4. Gabriel Marcelli (Montesa) 61; 5. Miquel Gelabert (GASGAS) 61; 6. Adam Raga (TRRS) 63
Trial-E – day 2
1. Albert Cabestany (GASGAS) 5; 2. Gael Chatagno (Electric Motion) 15; 3. Julien Perret (Electric Motion) 51; 4. Jerome Delair (Electric Motion) 89
Championship standings: FIM Trial World Championship 2020, (after round 4)
TrialGP
1. Toni Bou (Montesa) 152 points; 2. Adam Raga (TRRS) 121; 3. Jaime Busto (Vertigo) 105; 4. Jorge Casales (GASGAS) 98; 5. Jeroni Fajardo (Sherco) 82; 6. Gabriel Marcelli (Montesa) 82… 8. Miguel Gelabert (GASGAS) 75
Trial-E
1. Albert Cabestany (GASGAS) 74 points; 2. Gael Chatagno (Electric Motion) 74; 3. Julien Perret (Electric Motion) 60; 4. Jerome Delair (Electric Motion) 48; 5. Martin Pochez (Electric Motion) 26