Can Spain be beaten?
The eleventh FIM Indoor / X-Trial des Nations takes place this coming Friday in Pau, France, with Spain starting as overwhelming favourites to retain their title. The two-man Spanish team of newly-crowned 2017 FIM X-Trial World Champion Toni Bou – Repsol Honda and Jaime Busto – Repsol Honda carry the expectations of their country on their shoulders.
Since the event was first held in 2002 Spain have remained unbeaten and it is a fact not lost upon nineteen-year-old Busto.
- Spain are unbeaten in the competition and if they win on Friday it will be their 11th consecutive title
- The competition was first held in 2002 and has run every year apart from breaks in 2007 / 2009 / 2010 / 2011 / 2013
- Spain’s winning team in 2002 was Adam Raga, Albert Cabestany and Marc Freixa – Raga was 2nd in the 2017 FIM X-Trial World Championship with Cabestany 4th
- In 2016 a new ruling was put into place that one team member must be under 25 years of age
- Out of the 10 riders 4 – Jack Price, Franz Kadlec, Luca Petrella and Jarmo Robrahn – will be making their FIM X-Trial des Nations debut in Pau
- At 31 years of age James Dabill is the oldest competitor in Pau – Jarmo Robrahn at 18 is the youngest