In Trial2 George Hemingway (Beta) made it two in a row in Trial3 and maintained his Trial3 advantage with second victory of the weekend
Early rain made conditions treacherous on the opening lap, but as the sections started to dry out riders put on a masterclass on the virtually sheer mountain slopes studded with towering rocks.
Although a number of sections were modified to take into account the rain that began to fall. When wet the rocks in the Pyrenean principality become notoriously slippery, a problem that is amplified when mud is dragged onto them before the sections started to rapidly dry, conditions eased in the afternoon.
The close and competitive Trial2 class saw the fourth different winner from the four scoring days staged so far with Spain’s Canales claiming a career-first victory at this level after recording the two best laps of the event. Parting with just eight on his opening lap including a single time penalty, the nineteen-year-old from Barcelona then dropped his score to five on lap two which saw him emerge as a clear winner by a healthy margin of eleven marks.
Following his below-par results in Japan, defending champion Billy Green (Scorpa) from Britain continued to drag himself back into contention with another second-placed finish, just one mark ahead of twenty-two-year-old Spaniard Gerard Trueba (Beta) who was a career-best third in front of yesterday’s winner Arnau Farré (Sherco).
Championship pace-setter at the start of the day, Britain’s Jack Peace (Sherco) could not match his third-placed finish on Saturday and he slipped to seventh, a result that allowed Canales to take over as the new class leader.
Consistency is key when it comes to winning titles and reigning Trial3 champion George Hemingway (Beta) from Britain matched his success yesterday with his two laps of ten marks bringing him home twenty-one clear of his compatriot and series newcomer Euan Sim (Sherco) with French rider Romeo Piquet (Beta) – who was second yesterday – a further mark adrift.
“Coming into this weekend I was hoping to score good points so I am absolutely buzzing to come away with two wins,” said Hemingway. “I can’t ask for much more. Today was tricky with the rain, but it was a good day for me.”