Current X-Trial world champion, Toni Bou, on the four-stroke Repsol Honda, has taken an important victory at his home round in Barcelona. In a tough-fought contest, Bou took the win from arch rival, Adam Raga, by just four points, leaving him thirteen points clear of Raga in the championship standings.

The Barcelona Indoor Trials event, first run in 1978, is the oldest of its type in the trials calendar. The magnificent Palau Sant Jordi on the Montjuic Mountain stands proudly above the city and welcomed the riders to round four of this year’s FIM X-Trial series.

Joining Bou in Barcelona, 2014 FIM World Cup winner – World Junior Championship – Jaime Busto, made his debut in front of a crowd of 8,000 trials fans, taking his place as ‘Wild Card’ Repsol Honda rider, alongside the seven permanent riders in the series.

Proceedings started with all riders competing over the five hazards,with just four going through to the final. The starting positions of the final four would be decided after a timed single lap for each rider of a marked out course.

Jaime Busto put up a brave fight for the final but, along with the other Cota 4RT-mounted rider, Eddie Karlsson, it was not to be. They joined Alexandre Ferrer and James Dabill in scoring twenty five marks over the five qualifying hazards, to be eliminated from the competition.

Bou, on the other hand, made his intentions clear from the off, knowing that to gain any advantage over Raga, he would need to apply the pressure early on in the six hazards of the event. After finishing with the lowest score in the qualifying over the five hazards, it was obvious he was looking very confident. Raga tried his best to keep in contention for the win but he steadily cast away marks as Bou rode with a consistency that would eventually give him the win. The other two riders in the final, Cabestany and Fajardo, struggled with the severity of the hazards and this was reflected in their final scores.

Toni Bou has once again opened up the advantage over Raga and will be confident that he can carry this winning form to round 5 in Austria next week.