Clermont-Ferrand hosts a round of the FIM X-Trial World Championship for the first time this Friday, promising an exciting evening at the Zénith d’Auvergne, starting at 20:00.
Eighteen-time world champion Toni Bou (Repsol Honda Trial Team) and two-time world runner-up Jaime Busto (GasGas) come into this third round tied on points. Busto won the opening race in Madrid, with Bou in second place, while in the Chambéry stage, Bou reversed the situation, topping the podium. Both have accumulated 35 points and will contest the tie-breaker on French soil.
Adam Raga (Sherco), currently in third place, is having a farewell season and has already secured two consecutive finals and a podium. Raga has a three-point lead over Gabriel Marcelli (Repsol Honda Trial Team), who is in fourth place. After a difficult start in Madrid, Marcelli bounced back in Chambéry, where he took third place on the podium, just one point off second place.
Frenchman Benoit Bincaz (Sherco) is looking to return to the final after missing out in the last round, and hopes to compete for a place in the Top 3, just as he did in Madrid. Grattarola (Beta) returns after a disappointing 2024 season, in which he failed to stand out after a fourth place in the opener in Barcelona. At the same time, young talents Dufrese (Beta) and Green (Scorpa) continue to develop in a discipline as demanding and spectacular as X-Trial.
The competition takes place in a venue recognized by the French Ministry of Culture, which has already hosted various sporting events, including the Davis Cup and the start of the Paris-Dakar rally, as well as concerts by international stars such as Lenny Kravitz, Bob Dylan, Scorpions, Mark Knopfler and Ed Sheeran.