18/06/19 – When the TrialE Cup gets under way this weekend, Kenichi Kuroyama will be looking to go one better than last year…
Gas Gas will be aiming to make it a hat-trick of TrialE Cup titles this year with Albert Cabestany, who retired from top-flight Trial at the end of last season following a long and illustrious career, representing the Spanish manufacturer when the series for electric motorcycles gets under way this coming weekend at TrialGP Netherlands, round three of the 2019 FIM Trial World Championship.
The inaugural championship was held over one round in 2017 with 1996 TrialGP champion Marc Colomer coming out on top before Loris Gubian triumphed following two close-fought rounds in 2018. This year the championship will again be decided over two rounds, beginning at Zelhem on June 22-23 before signing off the following weekend at TrialGP Belgium at Comblain-au-Pont.
However, although it is an undeniably formidable pairing, it won’t be a walk in the park for Cabestany and Gas Gas and they will have to contend with veteran Japanese star Kenichi Kuroyama who will campaign Yamaha’s TY-E machine.
Last season Kuroyama – a former TrialGP contender and an 11-time All Japan national champion – lost the TrialE Cup on a tie-break with the Frenchman after the pair swapped wins and this time around he’s determined to make amends.
“Last year I won the first round but narrowly missed the win in the second and that ended up costing me the title. It was a really frustrating and disappointing result for me. I feel like there was so much more I could have done so I’m really happy to have another chance this year.
“From my experience in the TrialE Cup last year, I realised that even though it’s a Trial event just like any other there are a lot of differences between gas and electric bikes and it was also a big challenge mentally. This time I’ll be coming in with some experience so I’m mentally ready for it. I want to take the TY-E to the top and take an FIM title back home with me this time so look forward to [seeing] what we can do this year.”
