Repsol Honda Trial Team face new challenge at Portuguese TrialGP2023-05-11 11:33Toni Bou arrives as leader after achieving his first victory of the outdoor season. Gabriel Marcelli is joint fourth in the standings. TrialGP World Championship Races 3 and 4 will take place in the Portuguese town of Gouveia this weekend. The Repsol Honda Trial Team riders will fight for top positions and look to improve the results obtained in Arteixo on the opening weekend of the season. Toni Bou leads the TrialGP Championship, tied on points with Jaime Busto, after taking a victory and a second place in the two events held in Arteixo just a week ago. The 32-time World Champion will seek to become outride leader in the outdoor discipline in Portugal. Gabriel Marcelli is joint fourth in the standings, tied on points with Adam Raga, after a great performance in the Spanish TrialGP. He was third and fourth in the two events held in Arteixo, and in Gouveia his objective will be to battle for his first victory in the Outdoor World Championship. The technical and administrative verifications will take place on Friday, followed by practice. The competition itself begins on Saturday at 9am. Toni Bou 1 Championship: 1st “After a good start to the season, we now come to the race in Portugal with a lot of enthusiasm and tied on points with Jaime. I think it will be a race that will be decided by small details, so we have to be very focused. I have to fully recover from the arm discomfort I had in Arteixo and this week I won't be able to train at the pace I would like, but I will try to get 100% fit. A couple of years ago we competed in Gouveia and it was a race with river sections, but we will have to see how the sections are marked out because it can change a lot from one year to the next. As I said, the key this year is not to make mistakes and stay focused." Toni Bou Gabriel Marcelli 38 Championship: 4th “It has been a good start to the season with a third place on Saturday and a fourth position on Sunday in Arteixo. I am quite happy and I think we are showing that we have had a good preseason and that we are stronger this year. From what I understand in Portugal there will be several sections in the river, so it will be a wet race. It's not my specialty, but I think I can handle it pretty well. The areas outside the river will be similar to those in Arteixo and I think they play more in my favour. In addition, there will be many fans from the Galicia area, which is extra motivation." Gabriel Marcelli Takahisa Fujinami Team Manager “It is important that Toni recovers 100% from the discomfort in his right arm that he had in Arteixo. He has already competed in Gouveia area, where he won, so the objective will be to stay at the top of the standings and establish a lead. As for Gabri, he already showed that he can be at the front, getting a third place on the first day and fourth on the second day. We feel very good and the goal is to be on the podium and fight for victory. The team are clear that our aim is to have both riders as high up the standings as possible, and we have worked very well, so we continue with the same motivation to get the best results." Takahisa Fujinami Rider Standings Pos. Rider Num Nation Points Team 1 Bou Toni 1 SPA 37 Repsol Honda Team 2 Busto Jaime 69 SPA 37 Gas Gas Factory Team 3 Raga Adam 68 SPA 28 TRRS Factory Team Source: Honda Racing Corporation Click here to visit our forums to discuss this story |
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