The New Year maybe only a few days old, but already the 2014 FIM X-Trial World Championship has made its initial mark, with the British city of Sheffield having the honour of opening the series last night. It proved to be a contrasting evening for two of the riders in action, with Toni Bou – Repsol Montesa and Jack Challoner – Ossa experiencing the real highs and lows of the evening.
Bou was once again in devastating form and was delighted to achieve his first win of the year. “It has been a tough event with much pressure, but in the end I am happy to have won here again in Sheffield and to have started the championship with an important victory.”
However whilst Bou was spraying the winner’s champagne, Challoner was already in a local hospital where they diagnosed that the new Ossa rider had broken four finger and potentially a bone in this wrist as a result of a heavy landing during his qualification round.
Jack was obviously gutted with the outcome of his Ossa debut. “I knew as soon as I landed that I had done some damage as the pain was quite strong immediately. I really hoped tonight was going to be good start, having only switched bikes recently, but in the end it has been a real nightmare.”