With conditions much drier for today’s two races, it was too close to call in TrialGP during the opening stages of Race One with all the front-runners incurring early maximums as grip remained elusive on the steep, rocky hillside overlooking the city of Viana do Castelo on the Atlantic coast, close to the border with Spain.
At the halfway point Gabriel Marcelli (Montesa) shared the lead on eleven with his fellow Spaniard Jaime Busto (GASGAS), one mark ahead of Bou and Italian veteran Matteo Grattarola (Beta), before the defending champion reeled off five cleans and a three in the remaining six sections to draw level with Busto and take the decision on a tie-break.
After a bruising day on Saturday, Marcelli was relieved to return to the podium in third a further mark adrift with Grattarola dropping to fifth behind Aniol Gelabert (TRRS) after signing off with four maximums in the final five sections.
Race Two was all about Bou from the get-go. Taking the lead with a masterclass in precision on section three that resulted in a dab where everyone else other than his team-mate Marcelli took a maximum, the thirty-eight-year-old needed a three on the following section that had stopped everyone at their first attempt before completing the race for the loss of just two more marks.
“I’m super-happy with the weekend with victory in both races yesterday and today,” said Bou. “It’s been great for us and the mood is very good in the team.”
This time around it was Grattarola who was applying the most pressure on the leader and his final total of twelve gave him a three-mark cushion ahead of Busto with Marcelli fourth on eighteen as Britain’s Jack Peace (Sherco) snatched fifth on twenty-seven with a cool, clinical clean of the final man-made section. |