Following extensive consultations in partnership with the manufacturers and other parties, the FIM has aligned itself with the majority of National Federations.

In a major change to FIM TrialGP regulations, from 2024 onwards riders will be allowed to stop and move backwards in sections with a clearly defined time limit.

TrialGP has changed considerably over the recent years and this forward-thinking approach is viewed as part of the natural evolution of Trial.

This new ruling brings TrialGP into line with the FIM X-Trial World Championship which evolves into a more demanding riding level for riders and gives them the opportunity to demonstrate their skills.

This change in rules will ease the conditions for Section Observers in their judgements, with the full and continued support of the FIM.

Thierry Michaud, FIM Trial Commission Director, stated: “Global conditions have changed considerably and the FIM’s approach is different from that of the previous decade.

“During the previous seasons, the FIM carried out numerous expert appraisals and consultations with a view to improving these conditions and considering solutions for modernising the discipline.

“A majority of manufacturers and a number of riders expressed their desire for the greatest possible ‘freedom’ in expressing their enormous technical abilities in the sections with the main aim of putting on a show.

“To this end, the FIM has decided that its TrialGP organisations will focus primarily on visibility and the quality of the show put on. Other measures such as the acceleration of the race pace, the separation of certain classes and other decisions to come – leading to greater dynamism of the Events – will go in this direction.”

The FIM looks forward to an exciting 2024 season.

Regulations for the 2024 FIM Trial World Championship will be published in the coming days.

For regular updates check out our social media platforms on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The opening round of the 2024 Hertz FIM Trial World Championship initially scheduled for April 13-14 in Maisse, France, is cancelled.

The FIM and the FFM are working on replacing the French round, most likely on a different date. Further information will be communicated in due course.

For regular updates check out our social media platforms on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

For regular updates check out our social media platforms on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Spain swept to a conclusive nineteenth consecutive men’s victory at the 2023 FIM Trial des Nations (TdN), but their hopes of doubling up in the women’s category were thwarted thanks to a polished performance by the British ladies who regained the title they last won in 2018.

• Spanish trio of Toni Bou, Jaime Busto and Gabriel Marcelli dominate men’s class at thirty-ninth Trial des Nations
• Emma Bristow, Alice Minta and Kaytlyn Adshead dethrone Spanish ladies
• Japan’s Tomoyuki Ogawa, Seiya Ujikawa and Tsuyoshi Ogawa take victory in International class

Staged high up in the French Alps at the ski resort of Auron, the event also saw the Japanese team claim a hugely popular win in the FIM International Trophy and Norway come out on top in the FIM Challenge des Nations.

With imposing rocks and steep, loose climbs challenging the field over two laps of fifteen sections, the heat and altitude – Auron is seventeen-hundred metres above sea level – combined to test the skill and physical fitness of the best riders on the planet.

The Spanish men’s victory hardly came as a surprise. The dominant force since 2004 in the annual competition to decide the world’s leading Trial nation, this year Spain fielded Toni Bou (Montesa), Jaime Busto (GASGAS) and event newcomer Gabriel Marcelli (Montesa) – the top three riders in the premier TrialGP class of the 2023 Hertz FIM Trial World Championship – and the hugely-talented trio did not disappoint.

With a team’s best two scores in each section counting, Spain’s biggest test on the opening lap came on the huge rock steps of section nine where they collected a ten-mark maximum, but every other nation also failed to reach the ends cards here so it did not affect positions.

At the halfway mark Spain led on a total of twelve from the host nation on thirty and Italy on thirty-one before a sizeable gap back to Great Britain and Norway.

On lap two focus shifted to the battle between the French trio of Benoît Bincaz (Sherco), Hugo Dufrese (GASGAS) and Téo Colairo (Beta) and the Italian team of Matteo Grattarola (Beta), Luca Petrella (GASGAS) and Gianluca Tournour (Sherco).

The two teams were incredibly evenly matched and while Spain cruised to victory on a total of twenty-three, France and Italy went head to head on the second lap and with the final result still in doubt until the last section of the Trial, the host nation’s score of fifty-one gave them second by two marks.

“To be honest it is a super-good feeling,” said Marcelli. “It is my first TdN, but with such a good team things are easy. I enjoyed the whole race from the beginning to the end and I think we put in a pretty good performance.”

Great Britain was the last nation to defeat Spain in a TdN, but Toby Martyn (Montesa), Billy Green (Scorpa) and Jack Peace (Sherco) were never really in contention for a podium finish and their score of eighty-four placed them fourth, eight ahead of Norway’s Sondre Haga (GASGAS), Mats Nilsen (TRRS) and Jarand-matias vold Gunvaldsen (TRRS).

It was much, much tighter in the women’s category where with a team unchanged from last year, Spain’s Berta Abellan (Scorpa), Alba Villegas (Scorpa) and Sandra Gomez (TRRS) were looking to make it four TdN wins in a row.

Britain’s Emma Bristow (Sherco), Alice Minta (Scorpa) and Kaytlyn Adshead (TRRS) had other ideas though and they got off to a perfect start with a clean opening lap giving them a two-mark advantage over Spain at the halfway stage.

Gradually easing clear, the British women then threw Spain a late lifeline with three marks lost on section eleven, but their rivals were unable to capitalise and also incurred three marks here and Britain’s eventual total of five gave them victory by a slender four points.

“We knew it was going to be low-scoring so the aim was to keep our feet up and we performed well on the harder sections to keep the lead throughout the day,” said Bristow. “It was a great team effort – we had been training together all week and I think it showed.”

The podium was competed by Norway’s Mette Fidje (Sherco), Huldeborg Barkved (TRRS) and Seline Meling (Beta) whose score of thirty-three edged out the home team of Naomi Monnier (GASGAS), Alycia Soyer (TRRS) and Marine Aurieres (GASGAS) by two marks.

In a low-scoring FIM International Trophy competition, the Japanese trio of Tomoyuki Ogawa (Honda), Seiya Ujikawa (Honda) and Tsuyoshi Ogawa (Beta) triumphed over the seventeen other nations contesting the second-tier category.

Tied on clean following the first lap with Germany’s Rodney Bereiter (Beta), Franz Kadlec (TRRS) and Paul Reumschussel (TRRS), Japan added just a single mark to their total on lap two to end the day six clear.

“We are very, very happy,” said Tsuyoshi Ogawa. “It is a great feeling to win for Japan.”

Starting the day as defending champions, the Czech team of Martin Kroustek (TRRS), Martin Matejicek (GASGAS) and David Fabian (Beta) could not replicate last year’s form and they had to settle for third on twenty-five.

Introduced last season, the FIM Challenge des Nations is for two-rider, mixed-gender teams and it was Norway with Jone Sandvik (Sherco) and Ingeborg aurora Bergersen (Sherco) who took the win on seventeen, sixteen clear of defending champions Italy represented by Mirko Pedretti (Beta) and Martina Brandani (Sherco).

“We had a very good day,” said Bergersen. “The sections were not easy, but they were perfect for us.”

The TdN concludes top-flight outdoor Trial competition for another year, but for regular news check out our social media platforms on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

For regular updates check out our social media platforms on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The winner of Friday’s opening day of action in the 2023 FIM Trial Vintage Trophy competition, Jean-Philippe Lerda (Yamaha) doubled up today at Auron in the French Alps with a commanding display of technique and throttle control that saw him emerge as a clear winner.

With two main pieces of silverware – the FIM Trial Vintage Trophy and the FIM Trial Vintage Motorcycle Trophy – up for grabs over both days of competition for twin-shock motorcycles, Lerda’s polished performance made up for his disappointment last year when he finished fifth.

Winner of both categories at last year’s inaugural event at Monza in Italy, France’s Philippe Berlatier (Bultaco) could not match his compatriot in the FIM Trial Vintage Trophy for best overall performance on a vintage motorcycle after finishing third today behind Franck Olivier (Fantic). However, the five-time FIM Trial des Nations winner did retain the FIM Trial Vintage Motorcycle Trophy for best performance on an authentic vintage motorcycle.

With the twelve period-appropriate sections divided between a dry riverbed and a steep hillside with man-made hazards to start and finish the lap, warm weather and the relaxed atmosphere made for a memorable event that was expertly organised by Moto Club de La Gaude in conjunction with the FIM.

Competing on the blue Trophy route, Lerda backed-up his faultless clean performance yesterday by parting with just a solitary dab on the opening lap today. With results moderated according to riders’ ages, not the age of their machines, when the scores were totalled up it gave him a clear margin of victory.

“This is a dream for me,” said Lerda. “It has been a very enjoyable two days for both me and my family and I am very happy to win.”

After finishing third on Friday, Olivier improved by one position today and his combined total gave him second overall ahead of Berlatier who looked on course to post a perfect performance today until the final two sections on lap two when a mechanical issue resulted in a pair of maximums.

Always a keen competitor, Berlatier’s disappointment at losing the FIM Trial Vintage Trophy was tempered by claiming back-to-back wins in the FIM Trial Vintage Motorcycle Trophy aboard his immaculate 1981 Bultaco Sherpa.

“I made some small mistakes yesterday and with Jean-Philippe losing just one mark today it was impossible for me to win,” said Berlatier. “At the end of today my engine broke which cost me many points, but I have enjoyed myself and the natural sections have been wonderful.”

After losing eight marks on observation today, when combined with his score from Friday it was Eduardo Alvarez Blanco (Fantic) who climbed to fourth overall followed by fellow Spaniard Diego Urreta (Fantic) with Belgium’s Eric Verkenne (Yamaha) slipping two places to sixth ahead of British rider Robin Luscombe (BSA) and France’s Michel Petitdemange (OSSA).

Competing on the less demanding green Support route, France’s Julien Berthier (Bultaco) posted a clean sheet which combined with his perfect score from yesterday proved to good enough to claim overall victory without incurring any penalties.

“It is my first time competing on a vintage bike so to win it is just amazing,” said Berthier. “It has been a lot of pleasure and a lot of fun and everything has gone very well.”

It was a close run result, however, with French riders Pascal Benis (Kawasaki), Thierry Lerda (Honda), Andre Marsens (Fantic) and Alexis Perzinsky (Fantic) – who filled the positions from second to fifth overall – also completing today’s course without loss.

A cocktail dinner tonight officially brings the day’s proceedings to a close before the competition returns to the present day when the 2023 FIM Trial des Nations is staged on Sunday.

All tomorrow’s action from Auron will be streamed LIVE on FIM-MOTO-TV at a cost of €7.99 for full weekend coverage with the TdN scheduled to get under way at 08:30 local time.

For regular updates check out our social media platforms on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

All the action from the final stop of the 2023 HERTZ FIM TrialGP World Championship. With titles to be decided, the TrialGP of France provided the perfect backdrop to the series’ seventh and closing event. Putting the finishing touches to an incredible season of riding to secure yet another TrialGP World Championship title, Toni Bou (Montesa) got the job done on day one, wrapping-up his 17th TrialGP crown having finished ahead of his closest championship challenger Jaime Busto (GASGAS) and team-mate Gabriel Marcelli (Montesa). Going on to end the year in style, it was Bou who stood on the top step of the podium on day two, again ahead of Busto and Marcelli. With super Spaniard Bou taking the coveted TrialGP title, Emma Bristow (Sherco) claimed the TrialGP Women’s crown, in Trial2 Billy Green (Scorpa) overcame a disappointing first day two lift the title on day two, while Harry Hemmingway (Beta) claimed the Trial3 title.

For regular updates check out our social media platforms on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Homegrown heroes took control on the first day of 2023 FIM Trial Vintage Trophy competition at the ski resort of Auron, high in the French Alps, as the FIM Trial des Nations (TdN) weekend got under way with a distinctly historical flavour.

Now in its second year following a successful debut event at the 2022 TdN at Monza in Italy, up for grabs are the FIM Trial Vintage Trophy for best overall performance on a vintage motorcycle and the FIM Trial Vintage Motorcycle Trophy for best performance on an authentic vintage motorcycle.

The first edition saw Philippe Berlatier, who across his career helped steer France to five TdN titles, come out on top in both categories, but after close of play today he currently sits second on his Bultaco behind Yamaha rider and fellow countryman Jean-Philippe Lerda with Fantic-mounted Franck Olivier completing a French one-two-three.

With fine weather adding to the friendly atmosphere and strong sense of nostalgia, man-made sections constructed from carefully positioned rocks bookended a twelve-section course featuring a mixture of hazards in a dry riverbed and plotted on a steep, loose hillside.

Organised by Moto Club de La Gaude in conjunction with the FIM, the event is open to all twin-shock motorcycles with a period-appropriate blue Trophy route and a less demanding green Support class route. Results are moderated according to a rider’s age, not the age of the machine.

With a good entry of twenty-five riders taking on the Trophy route, there is a strong international contingent on a real mix of machinery pushing for a podium position with Belgian Eric Verkenne (Yamaha), Eduardo Alvarez Blanco (Fantic) and Diego Urreta (Fantic) from Spain, French rider Michel Petitdemange (OSSA) and Britain’s Robin Luscombe (BSA) completing the top eight.

French riders are also filling the top three positions in the Support class with Julien Berthier (Bultaco) leading Pascal Benis (Kawasaki) and Thierry Lerda (Honda).

Day two of the FIM Trial Vintage Trophy gets under way at 09:00 local time tomorrow.

The action from Auron will be streamed LIVE on FIM-MOTO-TV at a cost of €7.99 for full weekend coverage.

For regular updates check out our social media platforms on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The best riders in the world go into battle this coming weekend (8-10 September) at the 2023 FIM Trial des Nations (TdN), staged high in the French Alps at Auron.

An annual competition to determine the world’s leading Trial nation, the event’s history can be traced back to 1984 and features separate classes for premier male and female teams along with the second-tier FIM International Trophy plus the FIM Challenge des Nations for mixed-gender two-rider teams.

Also taking place will be a competition for the FIM Trial Vintage Trophy and FIM Trial Vintage Motorcycle Trophy which will ensure the coming together of different generations of the sport over one memorable weekend.

In the winter a hugely popular ski resort, once the snow melts Auron becomes a paradise for Trial riders. Less than one-hundred kilometres from Nice and the magnificent French Riviera, at seventeen-hundred metres above sea level riders will have to contend with the effects of altitude on both physical fitness and machine performance.

Of course, that’s not the only test facing the sport’s leading riders and the mix of sections split between rounded boulders in a dry riverbed and more angular rocks on the side of a steep, wooded hill will provide a major challenge with a team’s best two scores in each section to count.

Starting as firm favourites in the men’s category, the Spanish trio of Toni Bou (Montesa), Jaime Busto (GASGAS) and Gabriel Marcelli (Montesa) – the top three riders in the TrialGP class of the 2023 Hertz FIM Trial World Championship – will be aiming to extend their nation’s TdN win-streak to nineteen consecutive victories.

Victory will see Bou tie Adam Raga’s record of eighteen TdN wins while Busto is looking for his fifth, but Auron will mark Marcelli’s debut in the competition. This lack of experience could potentially make the twenty-three-year-old the team’s weak link, although his seven TrialGP podiums this year indicate otherwise.

The last nation to defeat Spain in the competition all the way back in 2003, the British team this year comprises Toby Martyn (Montesa), Billy Green (Scorpa) and Jack Peace (Sherco). Of the three, only Martyn competes in the TrialGP class, but Green is the newly-crowned FIM Trial2 World Champion and Peace finished third in the class this year so there is talent in depth.

A strong second last year, Team Italy will once again field veteran Matteo Grattarola (Beta) and Luca Petrella (GASGAS) with Gianluca Tournour (Sherco) taking the place of Lorenzo Gandola. Grattarola’s had another strong year in TrialGP to finish fourth while Petrella ended the season eleventh in the premier class, a position Tournour matched in Trial2.

The home nation fields Benoit Bincaz (Sherco), Hugo Dufrese (GASGAS) and Teo Colairo (Beta) and after narrowly missing out last year will also be aiming for a podium finish, but they will have to contend with the Norwegian trio of Sondre Haga (GASGAS), Mats Nilsen (TRRS) and Jarand-matias vold Gunvaldsen (TRRS).

Spain will also start the day as defending champions in the women’s category with the team of Berta Abellan (Scorpa), Alba Villegas (Scorpa) and Sandra Gomez (TRRS) unchanged from last year, but the contest is likely to be much closer than in the men’s competition.

The main opposition to a fourth straight Spanish win should come from the British team led by Emma Bristow (Sherco) – who has just sewn up her ninth TrialGP Women title – alongside Alice Minta (Scorpa) and Kaytlyn Adshead (TRRS).

Experience and race-readiness could be a big factor with Abellan the only Spanish rider active at FIM World Championship level this season while Minta and Adshead finished fifth and tenth in TrialGP Women in 2023.

The Italian team of Andrea Sofia Rabino (Beta), Alessia Bacchetta (GASGAS) and Martina Gallieni (Scorpa) are also strong candidates to repeat last year’s podium finish with Rabino ranked third in TrialGP Women and Bacchetta second in Trial2 Women.

Other podium challenges should come from Norway’s Mette Fidje (Sherco), Huldeborg Barkved (TRRS) and Seline Meling (Beta) and the German trio of Theresa Bauml (Vertigo), Julie Steinert (TRRS) and Vivian Wachs (TRRS).

Defending the FIM International Trophy, the Czech Republic’s team of Martin Kroustek (TRRS), Martin Matejicek (GASGAS) and David Fabian (Beta) remains unchanged and starts favourite out of the entry of eighteen nations from four continents.

The inaugural FIM Challenge des Nations in 2022 saw Mirko Pedretti (Beta) triumph for Italy alongside Bacchetta and this year the Trial3 regular will join forces with Martina Brandani (Sherco) in a bid to defend the title.

All the action from Auron will be streamed LIVE on FIM-MOTO-TV at a price of €7.99 for full weekend coverage. For more details click here.

For regular updates check out our social media platforms on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Although it may not be able to trace its history back as far as other major dates on the worldwide motorcycle sporting calendar, the FIM Trial des Nations (TdN) shares centre stage with similar stand-alone events like the FIM Monster Energy Motocross of Nations (MXoN) and is certainly no less prestigious.

Since 1984 the TdN has brought all the world’s leading Trial nations together on an annual basis for one memorable weekend of competition with the ultimate goal of deciding which country can legitimately claim for the next twelve months to be the global powerhouse of the sport.

On that famous first weekend of TdN competition, held at Myslenice in Poland, a four-man French team comprising Philippe Berlatier, Gilles Burgat, Fred Michaud and his younger brother Thierry – now the Director of the FIM Trial Commission – came out on top ahead of Spain and Italy.

France dominated the event for the next two editions with Pascal Couturier replacing the older Michaud sibling in the team in Piano Rancio in Italy in 1985 and Limberg in Austria in 1986.

It was the turn of Italy to taste victory in 1987 when Diego Bosis, Renato Chiaberto, Carlo Franco and Donato Miglio beat France into second place in Tampere in Finland before the fighting French reclaimed the title the following year with Thierry Girard replacing Burgat for the event in Revnice in the Czech Republic.

An ever-constant presence on the podium for the first five years, Spain’s debut win came in 1989 with Jordi Tarres, Gabino Renales, Amos Bilbao and Andreu Codina narrowly beating Italy at Bertrix in Belgium. While they could not have known at the time, it was the beginning of Spanish domination of the event that – give or take a few faltering moments – continues to this day.

The very next year France made it five wins with a comfortable victory on home ground ahead of Spain at Massais as Bruno Camozzi took the place of Michaud, but for the next six years it was Spain all the way.

With Tarres anchoring the team, Spain swept to victory as far afield as the USA and as close to home as Andorra with the Trial legend joined at various TdNs by Bilbao, Renales, Marc Colomer, Joan Pons, Angel Garcia and Marcel Justribo.

Surprisingly, Great Britain had to wait until 1997 for their first win. After finishing second for the previous four consecutive years, Dougie Lampkin, Steve Colley, Graham Jarvis and Dan Clark finally struck gold on the Isle of Man, but Spain regained the trophy in 1998 at Chiesa Valmalenco in Italy where current FIM Section Advisor Jordi Pascuet replaced Tarres.

With Martin Crosswaite taking over from Clark, Great Britain returned to the top in 1999 on a very close and competitive day at Ettelbruck in Luxembourg before Spain re-established their dominance, first on home soil at Seva and then one year later at La Bresse in France.

After celebrating the new millennium with Marc Colomer, Marc Freixa and Albert Cabestany joining Justribo in the team, in 2001 a very talented – although relatively inexperienced – rider by the name of Adam Raga replaced Justribo.

For the next two years Spain suffered defeats in Pacos de Ferreira in Portugal and Lavarone in Italy at the hands of Team GB with first Sam Connor and then Ben Hemingway sharing the glory, but 2003 was the last time any nation other than Spain filled the top step of the TdN podium.

Apart from 2020 when the TdN was cancelled due to the pandemic, Spain has ruled the roost every year. Raga has gone on to become the most successful rider in the event’s history with eighteen victories, just one win ahead of Toni Bou who was part of a winning team for the first time in 2005.

Along the way the Spanish nucleus of Raga, Bou and Cabestany – whose own personal TdN record boasts fifteen wins – were joined by Jeroni Fajardo who has been part of the victorious Spanish team on thirteen occasions.

The only addition to the Spanish honour role has been relatively recent with Jaime Busto making his first appearance in the competition in 2017 and adding further wins to his TdN record in 2018, 2021 and again last year.

The first-ever FIM Women’s Trial des Nations was staged alongside the men in 2000 when a Spanish team featuring Laia Sanz and Dolores Sanchez triumphed on home soil before Norway’s Kjersty Fla, Linda Meyer and Siri Minken took the title north the very next year.

Merce Ribera joined Sanz and Sanchez in 2002 as the Spanish regained the trophy, but they would not win it again until 2008. During the intervening years Germany’s women enjoyed victory in 2003 with Iris Kramer, who is now an FIM Section Advisor, Ute Kramer and Rosita Leotta and again in 2005 when Sabrina Weindl took over from Ute Kramer.

France won in 2004 thanks to Claire Bertrand, Marilyne Journet and Marlene Satge before Great Britain claimed back-to-back wins in 2006 and 2007 with Maria Conway, Donna Fox and Rebekah Cook.

Spain were back on top the following year with Sanz once again uncorking the champagne flanked this time by Sandra Gomez and Mireia Conde before Emma Bristow and Joanne Coles teamed up with Cook to regain the trophy for Great Britain.

That 2005 win by Germany was the last time a country other than Spain or Great Britain has won the FIM Women’s Trial des Nations. Since 2010 the Spanish team have added seven further wins to Great Britain’s five with Berta Abellan, Maria Giro, Neus Murcia and Alba Villegas all featuring on winning teams for Spain while Jess Brown was a member of Great Britain’s side the last time they won in 2018.

The 2023 FIM Trial des Nations takes place on 8-10 September in Auron in France with the action streamed LIVE on FIM-MOTO.TV at a cost of €7.99 for full weekend coverage.

For regular updates check out our social media platforms on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

For regular updates check out our social media platforms on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.