Trial: the art of getting through without ever putting a foot down

Scoring in reverse: winning by losing the least

Trial is arguably the only motorcycle discipline in which you score no points at all: instead, you lose them. The standings are drawn up in penalties, and the winner is the one who has piled up the fewest by the finish. The scoring fits into a few lines: clearing a section without ever touching the ground is worth 0 points ; one foot down costs 1 point, two feet or two dabs 2 points, three dabs or more 3 points; a fall, rolling backwards or an outright failure are worth 5 points, the maximum you can take on one section. Zero — the famous “clean” — is still the only fully satisfying result. Nothing to do, then, with the stopwatch logic that governs American flat track or speedway : here speed earns you nothing, precision pays for everything.

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The section, the observer and the clock

A trial event is not a race but a connecting route punctuated by sections, marked-out stretches a few dozen metres long traced through rocks, roots and streams — or, when the event is indoor, over stacks of concrete blocks, logs and truck shells. Each section is bounded by tape and numbered flags that the machine must pass in the imposed order, without ever going outside the limits. The section observer is the sole master on board: he watches, counts the dabs and punches the rider's score card. He is the one who rules when a foot has brushed the rock, when the rear wheel has rolled back a centimetre, when the tape has been crossed. A time limit stops anyone standing there thinking in front of the obstacle: in the world championship it dropped in 2025 from ninety seconds to sixty seconds per section, with any overrun punished by a 5. Competitors ride the same series of sections several times during the day and the totals add up; in the event of a tie, it is the number of zeros that breaks the tie.

A bike with no seat: the most extreme tool in motorcycle sport

A trial bike looks like nothing else. It has no seat — at most a symbolic pad — because the rider stays standing on the footpegs from start to finish: sitting down would make no sense when everything comes down to weight transfer. Above all, it is of an almost unreal lightness . The Montesa Cota 4RT 301RR, the benchmark from the Catalan marque now under the wing of Honda, is quoted at 73 kg for a single-cylinder 298 cm³ four-stroke and 310 mm of ground clearance. The gearboxes are very heavily geared down, with first gear letting the bike creep along at walking pace and then haul itself up on a whisker of throttle; the tank holds less than three litres; the long-travel suspension soaks up landings that no all-round machine could withstand. Nor is there anything in common with the brute power demanded by the hardest hard enduro in the world : the trial bike is after traction, not horsepower.

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From the Scottish hills to the first sections

Trial was born in Great Britain, at the start of the 20th century, out of events that were not after spectacle but reliability. In July 1909, the Edinburgh Motor Cycle Club and Campbell McGregor launched the first great Scottish event, five days on the road starting from Edinburgh, up to John O'Groats and back. In 1912 it became the “Scottish Six Days Open Reliability Trial” and by 1914 it had a marking system combined with time penalties: the mechanics of modern scoring were already taking shape. That same year, in Yorkshire, Alfred Angas Scott challenged the workers at his Shipley factory to reach Burnsall across the Dales — 14 starters, 9 finishers — and so founded the Scott Trial. Just as the Tourist Trophy did for outright speed, these off-road endurance events established very early on, in the history of the motorcycle, one simple idea: a machine is judged first of all by its ability to get through where the others give up. The Scottish Six Days Trial is still run today and remains the oldest trial event in the world.

1965: the Bultaco revolution

Until the mid-1960s, trial was ridden on heavy British four-strokes derived from road bikes. Everything changed in 1965, when the Catalan manufacturer Bultaco handed the Northern Irishman Sammy Miller the development of a lightweight machine built around a 244 cm³ two-stroke : the Sherpa T. Development was wrapped up in a handful of days and the verdict came that same year: the Sherpa T became the first non-British machine, and the first two-stroke, to win the Scottish Six Days Trial. Within a few seasons Spain — which was already winning in Grand Prix racing with Ángel Nieto — took power. Montesa rolled out its Cota, OSSA handed its machine to the Englishman Mick Andrews, European champion in 1971 and 1972, whose MAR (Mick Andrews Replica) remains the absolute icon of classic trial. When in 1975 the FIM turned its European championship into a world championship, it was a Briton, Martin Lampkin, who took the first title — on a Bultaco.

Japanese offensive, Italian interlude, Spanish revenge

The Japanese did not take long to react. As early as 1973, Yamaha poached Mick Andrews to develop the TY 250 — along with the TY 80 and TY 175 on which entire generations would discover the discipline; Andrews added two Scottish Six Days wins to his record, in 1974 and 1975. Honda hit even harder: the Belgian Eddy Lejeune swept three consecutive world crowns in 1982, 1983 and 1984, and he did it on a four-stroke, completely against the grain of the era. Then came a long Italian interlude : SWM gave Gilles Burgat the first French world title in 1981, Fantic crowned Thierry Michaud in 1985, 1986 and 1988, Beta launched Jordi Tarrés, and Aprilia put the Finn Tommi Ahvala on top of the world in 1992. Then Spain took back control and never let go: Gas Gas came out on top in the mid-1990s, Montesa — under Honda control since 1986 — returned to the summit in 1996 with Marc Colomer and is still camped there today.

Tarrés, Lampkin, Bou: three eras of domination

Jordi Tarrés led the way. In 1987, he became the first Spaniard to be crowned trial world champion and imposed a new, acrobatic riding style, made of hops and dabs where until then riders had looked for the clean line. He racked up seven world titles : 1987, 1989, 1990 and 1991 on Beta, then 1993, 1994 and 1995 on Gas Gas.

The Briton Dougie Lampkin, son of Martin Lampkin, took over with outrageous consistency: seven outdoor titles in a row from 1997 to 2003 and five consecutive indoor titles from 1997 to 2001, making twelve individual world crowns. His legend even spills beyond the discipline: in September 2016, he covered the 60 kilometres of the Mountain Course on the Isle of Man on the back wheel, without ever putting the front wheel back down.

And then there is Toni Bou. Born on 17 October 1986, the Catalan from the Repsol Montesa Honda team won his first world title in 2007, and has never let go since: from that date on, he has won every world championship, indoors as well as outdoors. His tally stands at 39 world titles — 19 outdoor from 2007 to 2025 and 20 indoor from 2007 to 2026. In the 2025 TrialGP season alone, wrapped up on 6 and 7 September in Great Britain, he took twelve wins. No rider, across all motorcycle disciplines, has ever put together such a record — not even the giants of MotoGP history.

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The Trial des Nations

Trial has its own national team meeting too, created in 1984 at Myślenice, in Poland. That first edition smiled on France, fielding Philippe Berlatier, Gilles Burgat and the brothers Fred and Thierry Michaud. The French repeated the feat in 1985 in Italy and in 1986 in Austria, before Italy won in 1987 at Tampere, in Finland, with France second. Since then,Spain has made the Trial des Nations its private hunting ground: Toni Bou alone has taken twenty outdoor team wins. The principle is still a single day, with each nation riding under its own flag — exactly the spirit that gives the Motocross des Nationsits flavour, the other great team meeting of world off-road racing.

Summary table

FAQ — Frequently asked questions

• How are points scored in trial?
  The opposite way round from other sports: penalties are added up and the rider with the fewest wins. Getting through a section without touching the ground is worth 0 points, one foot down 1 point, two dabs 2 points, three dabs or more 3 points, and a fall, rolling backwards or failure 5 points, the maximum for a section.
• How long do you have to clear a section?
  Sixty seconds in the world championship since the 2025 season, against ninety before that. A rider who exceeds this time limit takes 5 points, the maximum penalty. It is the rule that stops anyone standing in front of the obstacle endlessly looking for the right line.
• Why don't trial bikes have a seat?
  Because the rider stays standing on the footpegs from start to finish. The whole riding technique rests on shifting body weight; sitting down would be pointless and would add weight to the machine. The seat therefore gives way to a simple pad, saving weight and freeing up movement.
• How many world titles has Toni Bou won?
  Thirty-nine, an absolute record: 19 in outdoor trial from 2007 to 2025 and 20 indoor (X-Trial) from 2007 to 2026. Since his first crown in 2007, the Spaniard from the Repsol Montesa Honda team has won every world championship contested, indoors and outdoors alike.
• Where and when was trial born?
  In Great Britain, at the start of the 20th century, out of off-road endurance and reliability events. The first great Scottish event dates from July 1909 and would give rise to the Scottish Six Days Trial; the Scott Trial, in Yorkshire, was launched in 1914 by Alfred Angas Scott.
• How much does a modern trial bike weigh?
  Around 70 kg. The Montesa Cota 4RT 301RR, the benchmark machine, is quoted at 73 kg for a single-cylinder 298 cm³ four-stroke with 310 mm of ground clearance, a very heavily geared-down gearbox and a tank of less than three litres.