With more than 25 seasons as an active rider in the Trial World Championship and having just turned 40 years old, Adam Raga continues to be one of the best riders in the world, regularly on the podium and also adding victories year after year.
The 2022 season has not been easy sportingly or emotionally for the TRS Motorcycles rider. Although consistency has not been his best ally in these ten races, the disqualification of the German GP and the impossibility of appealing the decision due to a formal error, made it very difficult to recover those points in the general classification of the championship. Finally, this runner-up spot went to Jaime Busto, who is proving to be one of the most in-form riders on the grid.
Adam Raga: "Also, lately Toni Bou decides the areas in which he competes and, because of his technique and his bike, he climbs higher than the others, the difficulty always increases."
We met Adam Raga at the Trial des Nations in Monza. The truth is that Adam is always a rider willing to share his evaluations with us, something that is appreciated and always highly valued for those of us who try to give voice to a hermetic, monotonous championship of which very little transcends to the fans.
2022 SEASON RATING
“For me, 2022 has been very good. I stayed competitive from the start and was able to end up biting points in the standings despite the disqualification in Germany. It’s very important for me to remain competitive in the trial world championship at the age of 40.”
We asked Adam about the World Championship calendar, which concentrates the races in just three months and subjects a very intense activity to both riders, teams and organizers. “The perfect thing would be to clearly separate the indoor and outdoor world championships, the first starting in January and the second in May. For the riders, the way it’s done right now it’s very complicated, including the month of August, which we have “free” but as everything is decided in September it forces us to train without rest.”
On the level of the championship and the young riders: “The youngsters are coming in and polishing details. This year with a mistake you could go too far behind, so it has even more merit to be in the top positions. Overall, they’ve all gone very well.”
THE DISASTER IN GERMANY
Adam Raga won’t easily forget the 2022 German GP. The TRRS driver was disqualified for making the course from zone 11 to zone 12 outside the regulation interzone. Subsequently, they tried to claim this action, but due to a formal defect in it, it was unsuccessful.
According to Adam: “At no time did I see the dates of the route, which was very poorly marked and with the public that was there, it was difficult to understand if you had to go to the left or the right. According to the control of that zone, when collecting witnesses and evidence, more than 60% of the pilots followed the same path as me to reach zone 12. The regulations are very complicated to claim, since you had to make a claim prior to the one I made, so the evidence we provided was of no use.” With that decision it was difficult for Adam Raga to fight for the runner-up position in the world championship “at the level of qualification this is catastrophic, as it conditions the whole season”.
“4-STROKE BIKES ARE ON ANOTHER LEVEL”
We spoke to Raga about his relationship with TRS Motorcycles, which stretches back to 2016, and the challenges for both technical and sporting 2023. “It’s clear that at the rider level I have to try to maintain the physical and technical level, working to be more effective in the race. Technically, new features are coming, although they don’t necessarily have to work better than the previous ones. We’re in trial and we’re aware of the budget constraints.”
Regarding the claims that have been made about the differences in level between two-stroke and four-stroke bikes, Raga has also been clear: “The 4-stroke bikes are on another mechanical level, and there is nothing we can do, only improve our bikes, as the FIM is not able to regulate this situation.”
WHAT’S NEW IN 2023
Looking ahead to 2023, there is the possibility of changes to the regulations, both at a technical level with devices to measure the stop of the motorcycle, and at the level of progressively limiting the presence of the backpacker. “This stopping device has been tested, and although I was not in that test, it was a pilot from my school, and the assessment was a disaster. For 2023 we have already been confirmed that the machine will not be ready. I don’t know if the non-stop will be maintained. On the other hand, there is a lot of interest in removing the role of removing the backpacking, and the federations have to be responsible with this point. For me, backpacking is indispensable, because without it the spectacularity of the areas is also detracted from.”
