Hard-earned experience, time-proven excellence and exciting fresh blood combine in 2022 to form the new-look Repsol Honda Trial Team contesting the Hertz FIM Trial World Championship.

At the helm – as he has been since 2007 – is Toni Bou. The 35-year-old Spanish superstar needs little or no introduction with his 15 consecutive TrialGP crowns telling us everything we need to know about his sublime skills.

For 2022 he is joined by a rider at the other end of the career ladder. At the tender age of just 21, Spain’s Gabriel Marcelli already has two seasons in the premier class under his belt and is very highly regarded.

The two-man team will be managed by Japanese legend Takahisa Fujinami who retired from top-flight trial at the end of 2021 following a world championship career that lasted 26 years and spanned four decades.

Bou has been the main man in the team since signing to ride Honda’s all-conquering four-stroke machine for the 2007 season and despite his long tenure at the top the Catalan rider remains as motivated as ever.

“As always, our objectives are the titles and we are continuously preparing,” he said. “We will continue the line of work that we have been taking over these years.

“I would like to welcome Gabriel to the team. He is a very good rider and he rode some great trials this year. I’m sure that he will do really well and it will be good for the team. I also wish to congratulate Takahisa as the new team manager. I’m sure his experience will be positive for us.”

Marcelli, who hails from the north west of Spain close to the Portuguese border, won the 2019 Trial2 title before impressing in his rookie season in TrialGP when he claimed a debut podium on home ground and finished the year in sixth.

Despite slipping to seventh last year, there is no denying his undoubted talent and he could thrive following his promotion to the factory four-stroke.

“I am more than happy to join the best trial team in the world,” he said. “From now on maybe there will be more pressure. The fact of joining the Repsol Honda team gives you more responsibilities, you are in the eyes of everyone – being Toni’s team-mate [and] having such a good team, I think it will bring many great moments and I hope it will be a relationship that lasts for many years.

“I take over from Takahisa who has set the bar very high all these years. I will try to do my best and show that I am up to it and hopefully be at the top with Toni.”

World champion in 2004, Fujinami – or Fujigas as he is better known to his legion of fans – has enjoyed a stellar career. The youngest rider ever to win a TrialGP event, in 2021 he also became the oldest rider to win a TrialGP event when he triumphed aged 41 on day two at Tolmezzo in Italy.

“For me it is a great honour to be able to defend the colours of the Repsol Honda Trial Team as team manager,” he said. “The team has achieved great success and my intention will be to continue this long streak of titles and to collaborate in making the brand even bigger.

“Gabriel is a young rider with a promising future [and] with his entry into the Repsol Honda team we are sure that he will make a great leap forward in his career. He will be the team-mate of our great champion Toni Bou – what can you say about someone who has achieved so much?”

The 2022 Hertz FIM Trial World Championship is scheduled to get under way with the Japanese TrialGP at Motegi on May 20-22. For regular updates check out our social media platforms on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram – just search for TrialGP.

Still the one and only American rider to win an FIM Trial World Championship title, Bernie Schreiber was honoured last Saturday night when the FIM family came together at the Salle des Etoiles of the Monte-Carlo Sporting complex in Monaco for an extra special awards ceremony.

Celebrating the achievements over the last two seasons of the greatest motorcycle sporting stars on the planet, the evening saw Schreiber receive a ‘Legends’ award alongside road racing hero Franco Uncini, rallying heavyweight Cyril Despres and speedway superstar Greg Hancock.

“It’s fantastic,” said Schreiber. “The FIM contacted me about a month ago and asked me to come down. I was surprised after all these years – it was out of the blue – but it’s great. In the beginning I was thinking ‘do I go down?’ and my wife said ‘I don’t know if you’re going but I’m going!’ so that was it.

“It was a really nice event – there were some amazing people there and I really enjoyed it. It puts you on the map and underlines where you were and who you were in the trial world. It’s something nice to have from the FIM, it’s like the AMA Hall of Fame.”

Schreiber – who now calls Switzerland home – has joined an exclusive club of FIM Legends from the sport of trial including Yrjo Vesterinen, Dougie Lampkin and Sammy Miller.

The 62-year-old Californian made his TrialGP debut – although at the time it was still classified as a European Championship – at Saddleback Park in 1974 but was too young to be officially classified in the results and three years later he crossed the Atlantic and embarked on his first full World Championship campaign.

He won the TrialGP title in 1979 and went on to finish as vice-champion on three occasions and won 12 more TrialGP rounds before retiring from top-flight competition in 1987.

“It was fabulous to meet Greg [Hancock],” added Schreiber. “We sat at the same table and we didn’t even know each other. He just came in from Los Angeles and we got a chance to spend some time together.

“I didn’t know Jorge [Viegas – the FIM President] but he used to write articles years ago so it was nice to meet with him and I saw a lot of people who I haven’t seen for years.”

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The FIM family finally reunites this coming Saturday at a very special annual awards ceremony at the Salle des Etoiles of the Monte-Carlo Sporting complex in Monaco. After last year’s presentation evening was cancelled due to the ongoing pandemic, on December 4 we will come together to celebrate our champions from 2020 and 2021.

All our Hertz FIM Trial World Championship winners will be on hand to receive their coveted gold medals from last year and this year, with our champions relishing the opportunity to rub shoulders with stars from different disciplines including MotoGP champion Fabio Quartararo, flat track star Lasse Kurvinen and motocross hero Jeffrey Herlings.

We will also welcome some motorcycling legends including 1979 TrialGP champion Bernie Schreiber.

Of course, centre stage will belong to Spain’s Toni Bou who will receive four gold medals after his X-Trial and TrialGP victories in 2020 and 2021 extended his winning run to a fantastic 15 consecutive titles in both disciplines, cementing his position as the most successful motorcycle sportsman of all time.

The 35-year-old will be joined on stage by Emma Bristow and Laia Sanz, the 2020 and 2021 TrialGP Women world champions respectively. The greatest female riders in the history of the sport, together they have won the title on 21 occasions with Sanz celebrating her successful return to the series following an absence of seven years.

The Trial2 class gold medals will be awarded to Italy’s Matteo Grattarola who won in 2020 and British rider Toby Martyn who is this year’s champion. Grattarola’s title last year was his second in the class whereas Martyn’s represents his first world title.

Britain’s Jack Dance emerged on top of this year’s Trial125 championship following his victorious 2021 campaign and he will be sharing the limelight with 2020 champion Pau Martinez from Spain who has continued to climb the championship ladder on his move to Trial2 this season.

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It’s fair to say that the move to the Trial2 class of the Hertz FIM Trial World Championship hasn’t been the smoothest experience for Britain’s Billy Green (Scorpa) and the 19-year-old knows that consistency is key if he’s to have a breakthrough season in 2022.

After winning the 2018 Trial125 title, Green has twice finished 13th in Trial2 and this year progressed to 10th but he’s a long way away from where he wants to be.

“I would have liked to progress faster,” he said. “I think a few people might have expected me to do a bit better a bit sooner knowing that my ability isn’t that far off but my consistency hasn’t quite been there.

“I’d like to be consistently in and around the top five and fighting for podiums. At the last few rounds I’d have a wobbly first lap and my second lap would be one of the best of the trial so I need to pull it together for both laps because it is there.”

If you’re after a comparison you don’t have to look far. Toby Martyn (TRRS) is the 2021 Trial2 champ and has the British title as well but the 21-year-old has never been shy when it comes to talking about dealing with pressure and it took him five years to piece together the puzzle.

With a couple of years more experience under his belt, Martyn is a great role model for any aspiring rider and Green has him lined up in his crosshairs.

“I need to work on my inconsistencies but I feel I can progress because there were a couple of times this season that I’ve beaten or been close to Toby. If you look at him now, he’s just won the Trial2 class and he’s going up to the TrialGP class so to follow in his footsteps is where I’d like to be going.

Kicking off his 2021 campaign with wildly-inconsistent 8-18 results at the first round in Italy, Green finished third at round two in France and backed this up with seventh on the opening day in Andorra.

Everything clicked for him on the second day in the Pyrenees and he finally showed what he was capable of with his total of nine earning him a comprehensive victory, only for him to be disqualified.

True champions have the ability to turn a negative into a positive and, despite the disqualification, the second day in Andorra was a big boost to Green’s confidence.

“My inconsistencies were very frustrating. I have had some good results but to be so up and down isn’t simple for me to process. But I’m happy – I know I have the ability to go up there and do well, it’s just piecing it together.”

Dougie Lampkin was laying kerbs and roofing when he began to get a taste of the big time and Green’s also not afraid to roll up his sleeves having swapped his job in a pizzeria for work as a labourer on a building site.

“It’s part of what I have to do to make it work. It gives me drive to make use of the spare time I have knowing that I’m putting everything I have into it and that it’s not just been handed to me on a plate. It makes me appreciate the time I have off work to use it productively. I like that it’s grounding.

“The dream is to try and be the best in the world – that’s the end goal – but, being realistic, I just want to be the best rider I can be.”

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The provisional six-round calendar – featuring nine days of competition – for the 2022 Hertz FIM Trial World Championship has been released.

A major change is that for the first time in the motorcycle competition world, electric motorcycles will be allowed to compete against two-stroke and four-stroke machines in all classes in a ground-breaking move. Because of this there will be no TrialE Cup.

“For the first time in motorsport, electric motorcycles will be competing with the two and four-stroke motorcycles,” said FIM President Jorge Viegas. “This is really important, specially to prepare the way for trial to participate as a demonstration sport at the European Games planned to take place in Krakow in 2023.”

The series returns to the iconic Twin Ring Motegi circuit, 100 kilometres north of Tokyo, for the first time since 2019. The Japanese TrialGP is anticipated to get the championship under way with two points-scoring days on May 20-22 and will be followed by the Andorran TrialGP high in the Pyrenees at Sant Julia de Loria on June 11-12.

A week later on June 18-19 the world’s elite trial riders will head to Lourdes – back on the calendar for the first time since 2017 – for the French TrialGP before they travel north a fortnight later for the Belgian TrialGP at Comblain au Pont on July 2-3.

Another double-header is planned on July 8-10 for the German TrialGP at Neunkirchen in Siegerland. This will be first time the championship has visited Germany since 2016.

The series then signs off following a summer break with a further two scoring days at Ponte di Legno for the Italian TrialGP on September 16-18.
The premier TrialGP class will be in action alongside Trial2 at all six rounds. TrialGP Women riders will compete in Japan, Belgium, Germany and Italy and Trial2 Women riders will fight it out for the title in Belgium, Germany and Italy.

The Trial125 championship for up-and-coming riders will be contested in Andorra, France, Germany and Italy.
A new addition to the calendar for 2022, the FIM Trial Vintage Trophy will be staged at Monza in Italy on September 23-24 over the same weekend as the Trial des Nations which is scheduled for September 24-25.

All dates, events and the attendance of spectators are subject to the evolution of the pandemic and approval of the corresponding governments and authorities.

Full 2022 provisional calendars click HERE

The youngest champion to be crowned this year in the Hertz FIM Trial World Championship, 15-year-old Andrea Sofia Rabino (Beta) went head-to-head with her compatriot Sara Trentini (Vertigo) at the first three points-scoring events in Italy and France before breaking free in the second half of the season to claim the Trial2 Women title.

A very promising third in her debut season in 2020 with two wins to her name, Rabino was on the podium at every round this year with the up-and-coming Italian star winning four times and finishing second twice to run out winner by a comfortable 23 points.

TrialGP caught up with the rider from Rivoli, just outside of Turin in the north west of the country, to find out what makes her tick.

TrialGP: How long have you been riding and why did you start to ride trial? Was it a member of your family who got you into it?
Andrea: “I started practising at the age of six and it was my dad who passed on the passion to me.”

TrialGP: How does it feel to be Trial2 Women champion?
Andrea: “To be Trial2 Women champion feels very good because it was my goal.”

TrialGP: At just 15 years old you are one of the youngest competitors in the class – did you see this as a disadvantage at the start of the season?
Andrea: “No, it is definitely not a disadvantage – in fact it is an advantage because there is more time to grow.”

TrialGP: After three rounds you and Sara were very close. How did you deal with the pressure?
Andrea: “I had lots of pressure on me but I told myself that the more agitated I was the more likely it was that I would make mistakes so I tried to be as calm as possible.”

TrialGP: Who is your trial hero?
Andrea: “I am definitely inspired by Laia Sanz because I think she is an excellent rider.”

TrialGP: How far would you like to go in trial and what are your goals for next season?
Andrea: “My goal for next season is definitely to make the podium in the TrialGP Women category but even being in the top five would make me happy.”

TrialGP: Is there anyone you would like to thank?
Andrea: “Yes, I would like to thank Sergio Piardi, Matteo Poli who supported me at the events, Daniele Maurinoi who supported me in training and my family.”

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It took him five years of trying but rising British star Toby Martyn (TRRS) finally claimed the Trial2 title in this year’s Hertz FIM Trial World Championship.

Martyn, who was born and bred in Cornwall on the south west tip of England, came heartbreakingly close to taking the title in 2018 – only losing out on an end-of-season tie-break to Matteo Grattarola – before a dip in form put him out of contention for the next two years.

However, the 21-year-old regrouped in 2021 and, older and wiser, he used his hard-won experience to finally come out on top with a display of cool, calm consistency.

“It feels good,” he said. “It took a while to sink in to be honest. I’m mega happy. I had one bad day which knocked me in the championship and ever since that I stayed on the podium and that’s what made the difference.”

That ‘bad day’ came on the second day in Andorra near the end of August. After trading wins and second places with Jack Peace (Sherco) at the first four points-paying events, the pair went into day two in the Pyrenean principality locked together at the top of the table.

Winner on the opening day, Martyn then faltered on the Sunday and his sixth-placed finish handed a clear advantage to his fellow British rider.

In previous years Martyn might have struggled with self-confidence for the rest of the season but he displayed a new-found maturity and signed off with four more podium finishes – including a faultless zero score at the second French TrialGP at Cahors just one week later – to put the championship beyond doubt.

“Now I’ve got a few years of riding Trial2 under my belt I’ve worked out how to win the championship. Trial2 has always been about staying on the podium. When Iwan Roberts was champion in 2017 he only won once but he was on the podium at every round.

“His consistency was massive and I was very happy to be consistent this year because it’s always been a massive problem of mine and I think part of that is because I was a younger rider and didn’t have the experience.”

Martyn carried his international form into his own domestic championship and has wrapped up the British title with one round to go after another intense battle with Peace.

“Me and Jack have been battling for years, all the way through the youth classes, so it’s been pretty cool. It’s been tense as well so I’m happy to come out on top and also win the British title. That’s another massive thing for me – to do the double has been a dream of mine for years. I couldn’t be happier.”

So what’s next for Martyn? While he’s still considering a number of offers from teams for 2022, one thing that’s for certain is he intends to graduate to the premier TrialGP class.

“Now I’ve the Trial2 title out the way I can move up to the top class. That’s definitely the plan for next year. I can’t not give it a go. I know that the bigger sections will probably suit my riding a lot more because I practice all the time on TrialGP-sized sections. I’m excited for it.”

A major morale-boost for Martyn has, ironically, come from the 2021 results of Grattarola – the man who crushed his dreams in 2018 – who finished the TrialGP championship in fourth after claiming last year’s Trial2 crown.

“The level of the guys in the premier class is so high but Matteo’s performances this year give me a massive confidence boost. I know I can move up and push for top results. My aim is to get top-five finishes – that’s what I’m really going to fight for.”

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Unquestionably the greatest trial rider of all time, sublime Spaniard Toni Bou (Montesa) claimed his 15th consecutive Hertz FIM Trial World Championship title this season following another dominant display.

The 34-year-old Catalan king, who now calls the tiny Pyrenean principality of Andorra home, scored seven TrialGP victories this season out of a possible nine to take his all-time win record to an incredible 125 – and that’s despite breaking his leg in a training accident less than a month before the start of the championship.

Bou’s title-winning legacy stretches all the way back to 2007 and he has proved to be the rider to be reckoned with ever since that first championship, notching up 167 podium finishes along the way.

“This year has been very special for me because at the beginning things were very complicated with the injury just a month before the start of the championship,” said Bou. “In the end there will come a year when I will not be able to win – I’ve won for 15 consecutive years – but the fact that I got injured just before the start of the world championship made it special and I didn’t want to lose a championship in this way.”

Kicking off the season with a win on the opening day of competition at the Italian TrialGP at Tolmezzo in mid-June, he slipped to second the following day behind his veteran Japanese team-mate Takahisa Fujinami.

Back on top the following month at Charade in France, Bou then won on the opening day in Andorra in late August but had to be content with third on day two behind his compatriots Adam Raga (TRRS) and Jaime Busto (Vertigo).

As we’ve seen so many times before, when the pressure is on Bou’s ability to soak it up and rise to the occasion is unparalleled. If onlookers thought he might be wavering after day two in Andorra he showed everyone who’s boss and reeled off victories at Cahors in France and on both days at Pobladura de las Regueras in Spain before putting the championship beyond reach with victory at the Portuguese TrialGP at Gouveia.

It was a commanding end to a hard-fought season that saw him come out on top by 22 points from Raga with third-placed Busto a further 28 behind.

“Once again we battled 100 per cent,” said Bou. “I tried to get into shape as the championship progressed and the fact that I had a very good work rate before I got injured also helped me to recover faster. I am very happy to be able to win another world championship.”

Bou is quick to credit his team as providing the foundations for his success over the years.

“There are some people who work really hard and very professionally. With so many titles over all these years it is difficult to improve but we all work to do it. I am very happy to be in the best team in the world.”

However, while teamwork undoubtedly helps to make the dream work, at its heart trial is an individual sport and it’s Bou’s unquenchable desire that is the magic ingredient which drives him forwards.

“Whenever I ride, I do it to win,” he adds. “Look, when I was a kid I just wanted to be a world champion. Once I got it I kept fighting to get more. And so I’m continuing. As I always say, I will enjoy what I have and work every day to try to improve because this is our way of working.”

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Takahisa Fujinami (Montesa) has been a firm fixture of the Hertz FIM Trial World Championship for longer than anyone currently competing but there will be no Fujigas in action in 2022 after the 41-year-old announced his retirement from top-flight trial.

The Japanese crowd-pleaser has enjoyed a glittering career stretching all the way back to 1996 and he lays claim to the unique distinction of being both the youngest and the oldest winner of a TrialGP round.

Fujigas – his nickname comes from his cable-stretching, all-action style – was first victorious in September 1997 in Germany aged just 17 years and 220 days. His latest win came on June 13 this year on day two of the Italian TrialGP at Tolmezzo at the grand old age of 41 years and 134 days – and in between he’s managed a further 32 wins along with the 2004 world crown.

It’s only fitting that we caught up with the much-loved legend for a special interview…

TrialGP: First of all Takahisa, massive congratulations on such a long and successful TrialGP career. Could you have possibly imagined back in 1996 when you were just 16 that 26 years later you would still be riding – and still be competitive?
Fujigas: “Of course I couldn’t imagine it! Maybe I thought I could reach 30 or 35 at the most at the end of my career. In the end it has been 26 seasons and at 41 years of age, always riding among the best and with the feeling of having finished my career with a very good taste in my mouth – even winning [a trial] in my last year.”

TrialGP: What advice would you give to a rider like Jack Dance who has just won the Trial125 title and is at the start of his international career?
Fujigas: “Winning a championship is never easy and with a 125 there is a lot of rivalry. If I can give him a piece of advice it would be to train a lot in areas like the ones he will find at events.”

TrialGP: Why have you taken the decision to retire this season? After all, you have shown that you still have what it takes to win.
Fujigas: “The decision to retire was already on my mind at the end of last season but I didn’t want to finish the way I finished the year – my riding was not very good and I knew that it was possible to do better.
“I think that in Italy I proved that my riding was indeed better this year than last year. The victory was the first step to confirm that it was the year of my retirement.”

TrialGP: Who has been your greatest rival over the last 26 years? Dougie Lampkin or Toni Bou? Or maybe someone else?
Fujigas: “For me, Dougie. I have been fighting a lot with Dougie. In 1997 I won my first TrialGP round and in 1998, 1999, I finished second in the world championship but I was far away from Dougie. In 2003 I was in a position to beat him and in 2004 I won the world championship. I could never say that Toni was a rival like Dougie was.”

TrialGP: When do you feel you were at your best?
Fujigas: “I think my best moment was in 2004 and 2005. But maybe this year with the victory in Italy – it was also a great moment for me.”

TrialGP: What are your plans for the future?
Fujigas: “The future? Nobody knows! Although I can’t hide the fact that I would like to continue working with Honda. I have a Japanese and also a European mentality. I think it’s very positive to be able to work in the future in whatever I want but even better if it’s linked to the world of trials.”

TrialGP: Do you have any regrets?
Fujigas: “No but it’s only a week after the end of the world championship! Since I was eight years old I’ve always kept the routine of going out to train in the mountains and now I’m not going to do it. That’s a big change! But do I regret retiring? No. I think it’s a good decision.”

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Laia Sanz (GASGAS) added to her legacy as the most successful female trial rider of all time when, following a seven-year absence from the sport, she staged a triumphant return this season and claimed an amazing 14th FIM Trial World Championship individual title in the TrialGP Women class.

The 35-year-old from Barcelona was the first-ever TrialGP Women champion all the way back in 2000 and went on to win 13 world crowns in 14 years before switching to rallying in 2014 where she has forged a formidable reputation in gruelling events such as the notorious Dakar Rally.

Sanz’s 2021 TrialGP Women campaign got off to a great start with victory on the opening day of the Italian TrialGP at Tolmezzo – her first trial at the highest level since September 2013.

Defending champion Emma Bristow (Sherco) from Britain struck back on day two and again three weeks later at Charade in France but Sanz took another day win in Spain before wrapping up the title at the final round – the Portuguese TrialGP – at Gouveia in mid-September.

“Coming back to TrialGP after so many years away, to return and finally be successful and win another world title, it’s amazing,” said Sanz. “It’s not been an easy year for me, so I am proud that I have been able to do what I hoped I would.

“Also, I want to thank the team and GASGAS, they have been so, so good to me. It’s the result that we all worked really hard for.”

The icing on the cake of her dream return to the sport came the following day at Gouveia when she helped Spain defeat Great Britain and take the coveted Women’s Trial des Nations title for a record-breaking ninth time.

“Winning the Women’s Trial des Nations World Championship with team Spain is the perfect way for me to finish my trial season,” added Sanz, who was part of the winning team at the first-ever Women’s TdN in 2000. “Yesterday was already an amazing day, so today just makes things even better. We rode very well as a team, especially in the second lap. I’m really happy and pleased with the way I rode. This is the perfect way to finish the trial season.”

Sanz ends her season next month when she will attempt to win her sixth FIM Women’s Enduro World Championship title. With an eight-point lead heading into the series finale in France she starts as the odds-on favourite.

From there she’ll begin her preparations for the Dakar Rally in January. With a best-ever finish of ninth achieved in 2015 – the highest by a female motorcycle racer in the history of the infamous event – Sanz will be determined to improve on her 17th position in 2021.

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