Jeroni Fajardo, Miquel Gelabert and Jorge Casales line up alongside the five permanent riders on 19th January
The eight-rider field for the forthcoming X-Trial Budapest has been completed by the announcement of Jeroni Fajardo (Sherco), Miquel Gelabert (Vertigo) and Jorge Casales (Gas Gas) as event riders for the annual visit to the Hungarian capital. The stakes couldn’t be higher for the all-Spanish trio on 19th January in the Budapest Arena, as they chase one available automatic qualification space for their home Round X-Trial Barcelona in February.
Competition for these places has been fierce in each of the opening two Rounds of the season: there was little to choose between Gelabert and Casales in La Réunion, and Fajardo only earned his place at X-Trial Budapest following a tense tie-break at X-Trial Rennes with Gelabert again in contention.
Despite missing out on automatic qualification, Gelabert gets the nod with a nominated call-up to continue his string of successive appearances this season. The Vertigo man will aim to go one better after a pair of fourth place rankings at the start of the campaign.
Jorge Casales meanwhile returns to the series after missing X-Trial Rennes: the Spaniard was only eliminated on countback after making the heat stages in La Réunion and he will be staking his claim for a place in the Final phase this time around.
The inclusion of these three capable performers, alongside the regular quintet led in the early running by Toni Bou, will ensure a competitive third visit to Budapest, the only city to have so far hosted the series in Hungary.
Tickets for X-Trial Budapest are available to purchase at: www.eventim.hu/en/tickets/x-trial-hungary-budapest-papp-laszlo-sportarena-480300/event.html
And if you are unable to travel, full and live coverage will be broadcast as ever on www.x-trial.tv
