GasGas Factory Racing’s Jorge Casales has secured his best ever result in the FIM X-Trial World Championship with a third-place finish at round four of the series, the 2020 X-Trial of Barcelona. Fifth at the end of the night’s opening round, Casales then put in a strong performance in the second round to earn a place in the runners-up final, eventually ending his night on the podium alongside championship leaders Toni Bou and Adam Raga.
GasGas Factory Racing’s Jorge Casales has secured his best ever result in the FIM X-Trial World Championship with a third-place finish at round four of the series, the 2020 X-Trial of Barcelona. Fifth at the end of the night’s opening round, Casales then put in a strong performance in the second round to earn a place in the runners-up final, eventually ending his night on the podium alongside championship leaders Toni Bou and Adam Raga.
- Jorge Casales secures his first ever X-Trial podium result, in Barcelona
- Impressive riding through rounds one and two saw Casales reach the runners-up final
- Third overall, Casales now sits fifth in the X-Trial series standings
Just as in previous rounds of the 2020 X-Trial World Championship, Casales competed in heat one of the night’s first round, going up against countrymen Miquel Gelabert and Jeroni Fajardo. Completing the opening three sections with no marks lost and despite scoring fives in the fourth, fifth and sixth sections, he completed the heat with a total of 15 – the second-best score from heat one and the fifth best overall score from round one. In finishing fifth overall in round one, Casales moved into round two.
In round two, Casales went up against Jaime Busto and Adam Raga. Dropping one mark more than his rivals in the opening section, the GasGas TrialGP 300 mounted rider then cleaned section two. Scoring three marks on section three, even with fives in the closing two sections he ended the heat on 15 marks, good enough for second behind Raga and one-mark ahead of Busto. For the first time ever, Jorge qualified for an X-Trial runners-up final.
Guaranteed either a third or fourth place overall result, in performing better than Benoit Bincaz, Casales topped the runners-up final to take his place on the night’s podium. Finishing third in Barcelona, the Spaniard moves into fifth in the 2020 X-Trial World Championship standings.
Jorge Casales and the GasGas Factory Racing team will next be in action at the fifth round of the 2020 X-Trial World Championship, X-Trial Bilbao inside the Bizkaia Arena, Bilbao, Spain on February 15.
Jorge Casales: “I’m really happy, this has been a very important race for me. Also, a really important first part of the season because I’m adjusting to competing on the GasGas. I’ve just had some months on this bike, we’ve worked really hard during these months and we’re seeing the results now. It was a really important race for me here in Barcelona and to get my first podium in the world championship is a dream come true. I’m really happy with it and I’ll continue working hard to continue with this level of performances. Let’s see what happens in Bilbao as every race is quite different. I’m really starting to get a good feeling with the bike now and we’re still working on things to make it even better. I’m really proud because I always trusted GasGas, we’ll continue working to make things happen. I’m really motivated for what’s to come.” Results: X-Trial Barcelona 2020 1. Toni Bou, Montesa/Spain, (4 – Final)
2. Adam Raga, TRS/Spain, (11 – Final)
3. Jorge Casales, GasGas/Spain, (5 – Runners-up final) 4. Benoit Bincaz, Beta/France, (7 – Runners-up final)
5. Jaime Busto, Vertigo/Spain, (19 – Round 2)
6. Jeroni Fajardo, Sherco/Spain, (19 – Round 2)
Championship Standings: X-Trial World Championship 2020 (after round four) 1. Toni Bou, Montesa/Spain, 80 points
2. Adam Raga, TRS/Spain, 60
3. Jaime Busto, Vertigo/Spain, 28
4. Jeroni Fajardo, Sherco/Spain 25
5. Jorge Casales, GasGas/Spain, 24 6. Miquel Gelabert, Vertigo/Spain 22
7. Gabriel Marcelli, Montesa/Spain, 19
8. Benoit Bincaz, Beta/France, 16
Download high-res images from X-Trial World Championship round four here.