Bou and Abellan unbeaten on day one of TrialGP of Italy

Tightening his grip on the 2026 FIM Trial World Championship, Toni Bou (Montesa) extended his unbeaten streak to ten races in a row when he dominated the TrialGP class on day one of round three – the TrialGP of Italy – as his fellow Spaniard Berta Abellan (Scorpa) reasserted her control in TrialGP Women.

On another unpredictable day in Trial2, France’s Benoit Bincaz (Electric Motion) and British teenager George Hemingway (Beta) shared the race wins while Italian Fabio Mazzola doubled up in Trial3 Junior and Britain’s Matilda Arbon (Sherco) and Abril Montserrat Junque (Beta) from Spain claimed a win apiece as competition in the Trial2 Women class got under way.

Returning to Camerino for the first time since 1992, soaring temperatures and a series of super-steep sections on loose, almost gripless terrain resulted in a high-scoring day for the elite TrialGP class where even defending champion Bou – who has won the title every season since 2007 – was at times unable to get his rear tyre to bite.
 
Much to the delight of the large crowd, Bou’s main challenger in both races was Italian hero Matteo Grattarola (Beta) who, urged on by his passionate home fans, recorded a pair of second-placed finishes and in the second race came within just a few marks of handing the Spanish legend his first defeat of the season.
 
Starting at the back of the field after topping Friday’s Super Test, Bou had the advantage of watching his rivals through the sections in race one and the thirty-nine-year-old quickly took an early lead and was on just a single mark until he picked up maximum on section six, set in a steep-sided gully where loose bankings and a testing, technical climb ensured traction was in short supply.
 
Despite collecting another maximum on section twelve, Bou’s total of sixteen gave him the win in race one by eleven clear marks from Grattarola who held his nerve to claim second by two marks from Spain’s Miquel Gelabert (Honda) who clearly found the testing terrain to his liking on the sole electric machine in the field.
 
Holding third in the standings at the start of the day, Spain’s Jaime Busto (Beta) took fourth on thirty-one before a seven-mark gap to Italian rider Luca Petrella (Beta) with Gabriel Marcelli (Montesa) winning a three-way tie-break for sixth on forty.
 
Bou then topped Super Pole to start the Final at the back of the field and took an early lead from Busto before Grattarola drew level with an incredible single dab on section six – that took another five from Bou – before pulling clear with cleans on the next two sections where Bou added a further six to his score.
 
With the Super Final in full swing, both then recorded maximums on section nine before Bou signed off with one-clean-one on the final three hazards – where Grattarola added another twelve – to finish on twenty on observation plus two time penalties to win by just two. Busto improved to third on thirty-one, one mark ahead of a tie for fourth that was won by Marcelli from his compatriot Gelabert.
 
“It has been a good start to the weekend for me,” said Bou. “In the first race I felt super-good and I felt good in the second race as well, but Matteo was riding amazing and I fought with him to the very end.”

Last time out in Andorra, defending TrialGP Women champion Abellan was defeated on both days by Italy’s Andrea Sofia Rabino (Beta), but today she took the fight to her rival and emerged a clear winner of both races after finishing the Super Test in second behind another Italian, Alessia Bacchetta.
 
A dab on section eight followed by a five on section nine, that took maximums from the entire field, were her only losses in race one as she ran out a comfortable winner by thirteen from Rabino. Britain’s Kaytlyn Adshead was third on twenty-five, three clear of her compatriot Alice Minta (Beta) and four ahead of the Czech Republic’s Denisa Pechackova.
 
Race two was much closer, but the twenty-six-year-old’s score of seven was half that of twenty-year-old Rabino’s with Minta a further ten adrift in third as Pechackova won a tie-break for fourth on twenty-six from French rider Alycia Soyer.
 
“Today I am very happy with the win,” said Abellan. “I was riding well and really enjoying myself, but now I need to do it all again tomorrow.”

After missing the opening round in Japan, Bincaz took the overall on day two in Andorra and the twenty-nine-year-old once again put his electric machine on the top step of the podium after winning the first race and finishing fifth in race two.

Bincaz’s score of fourteen in race one gave him a four-mark advantage ahead of a three-way tie for second that was won by series leader Alex Canales (Montesa) from Spain ahead of Britain’s Billy Green (Scorpa) and Italian Francesco Titli (Montesa).

Despite slipping to fifth in race two on a total of thirteen, Bincaz did enough to secure the day’s overall decision ahead of Canales who was fourth on eleven as George Hemingway (Beta), who was seventh in race one, secured the third step on the podium with a fantastic second-race total of four giving him the win from fellow British rider Harry Turner (Sherco) by two marks with Spain’s Arnau Farré (Sherco) third on eight.

“I’m super-happy with this victory,” said Bincaz. “Today has been very tricky and I had to fight hard the whole day, but finally I did it again.”

Back in action after opening their accounts in Andorra, competitors in Trial3 Junior took the testing conditions in their stride and it was Fabio Mazzola – winner of the opening day in the Pyrenees – who made full advantage of his home round to win both races and regain the lead in the championship.
 
On top of the standings at the start of the day, Britain’s Harison Skelton (Scorpa) finished race one eight marks behind Mazzola in second on thirteen with Germany’s Marco Laure (Beta) third on fifteen. However, while Mazzola took command of race two to win on six, five clear of Laure and eight ahead of his compatriot Edio Poncia (Beta), Skelton slipped to twelfth on a total of twenty-three that has dropped him to third in the standings behind Laure.
 
“I’m very, very happy with this win in Italy,” said Mazzola. “I ride two good races and I want to thank all the fans for their fantastic support.”

After finishing fifth in Trial2 Women last season, Arbon got her 2026 campaign off to a flying start with her race one total of ten giving her a seven-mark cushion over Spain’s Queralt Fontdevila (Beta) with Daniela Hernando (Beta) third on nineteen after winning a three-way tie with Norwegian Wilde Moi (Beta) and Justyna Lonycz from the Czech Republic.
 
Bouncing back from her sixth-placed finish, Montserrat Junque won race two on nine – two clear of Fontdevila who claimed the day’s overall victory – with Hernando taking another third-placed finish on a tie-break, this time from Arbon, on a total of fourteen.
 
“Today has been very nice and I am very happy to finish first,” said Fontdevila. “I am hoping to do the same tomorrow.”