With regards to scoring , while competition in the United States allows for unlimited dabs after a score of three points is achieved , in the X-Trial format , any more than three dabs would constitute a failed section and earn the rider a full fivepoint score . As a new rule , should riders tie on points in the first ride , the rider who attempted the sections first is awarded the better position .
The opening round was held in Andorra ’ s capital , Andorra la Vella . The first rider of the event was TRRS ’ s Toby Martyn . After making short work of the first three sections , Martyn was thrown off his game in section 4 , which proved to be one of the deciding sections . Following an unfortunate five-point penalty , he followed that with failures in each of the final sections , landing him at a total of 16 points . Section 4 continued to challenge both GasGas ’ s Miquel Gelabert and Montesa ’ s Gabriel Marcelli , with Vertigo ’ s Jaime Busto the first rider to clear .
Section 5 was the most difficult section , with riders navigating a downward-sloping obstacle onto a high splatter . Every rider , including Repsol Honda ’ s Toni Bou , took a failure on the obstacle , except for one : Beta ’ s Matteo Grattarola . Not only was Grattarola the only rider to clear the section with less than five points , he walked away with a clean ride ! That ride also helped
ON THE PEGS // PAGE 68