2017 FIM TRIAL2 WORLD CHAMPION
IWAN THE INVINCIBLE
Iwan Roberts (Beta) wrote himself into the record books by becoming the first ever FIM Trial2 World Champion with a season of unerring consistency that saw him finish off the podium on just one occasion; taking a win, four second places and four thirds from the other nine days of competition during the inaugural 2017 season of this class (for machines up to 250cc 2T or 300cc 4T) as an FIM World Championship.
Gabriel Marcelli (Honda) made the strongest start to the campaign with a win at the opening round in his native Spain before Frenchman Gael Chatagno (Gas Gas) opened his account on day one in Japan. Roberts had joined them on the podium on both occasions, moving to the top of the championship in the process, and he made his way to the top step on day two at Motegi as Marcelli slipped back to ninth.
Chatagno struck again in Andorra as Roberts suffered his worst result of the season in fifth, whilst another win for Marcelli in France was followed by another disappointing result in Great Britain, where fellow Spaniard Francesc Moret (Montesa) denied British pair Toby Martyn (Vertigo) and Roberts the win. Marcelli hauled himself back into championship contention with a double victory in the USA but eighth place in the Czech Republic, combined with another strong second place for Roberts, gave the Brit a comfortable sixteen-point cushion going into the final round.
Despite missing out on the final win of the season to Martyn, dropping ten marks on the second lap to lose by four, second place for Roberts was enough to secure the title by s from Marcelli, who consolidated his second place in the series with third on the day.
PALMARES
World title – 2017
