FIM X-Trial World Championship action returned to the UK for the first time in a decade on Saturday night when round six of the series was staged in Leeds’ superb First Direct Bank Arena and while it was business as usual for defending champion Toni Bou – Repsol Honda, who claimed his fifth win of the 2026 campaign, it was local hero and birthday boy Harry Hemingway – Beta who almost brought the house down.
In just his eighth FIM X-Trial appearance the Leeds rider celebrated his twentieth birthday with a career-first podium at this level, riding out of his skin to lead the Final at the halfway stage and push Bou all the way before coming up short by just a single mark following a heroic performance that had the capacity crowd on its feet.
To put Hemingway’s performance into context, it was the best X-Trial performance by a British rider since Dougie Lampkin – one half of X-Trial Leeds promoter ML Events – finished second in Belfast in 2006 and the young Yorkshireman came oh-so close to a fairytale victory in front of his home fans.
However, Bou has not won a record nineteen consecutive X-Trial crowns for nothing. The thirty-nine-year-old’s ability to soak up pressure is legendary and, despite carrying a niggling shoulder injury, the superstar Spaniard was able to dig deep to defeat Hemingway with the result only decided in the final hazard, the massive Michelin tyres and containers that carried competitors six metres above the arena floor.
“It’s been a difficult day and Harry was riding amazing,” said Bou. “He’s a very young talent and I’m happy for him. He forced me to fight until the end and I’m happy with the win which is important for the championship. Tonight, there have been some big jumps, and I am pleased with how my shoulder is recovering.”
It was Harry’s seventeen-year-old brother George Hemingway – Beta, making his X-Trial debut, who got proceedings under way with a fine two-mark ride across the imposing S3 crates before slipping out of contention and France’s Hugo Dufrese – Beta recorded a full-house of maximum scores across the hugely technical six-section course.
Britain’s Jack Peace – Sherco also struggled and only managed to get through the opening section for a two before a run of five maximums and Matteo Grattarola – Beta did not fare much better. Starting with a two, the veteran Italian then needed just a single mark to negotiate the giant rough-hewn rocks of the Rock Oil-sponsored second section before his lap ended with four maximums in a row.
Harry Hemingway was next up and he came out firing on all cylinders, requiring just a single mark on each of the opening two sections before maximums on the metal blocks and cylinders of section three and another on the Inch Perfect-supported section four – featuring a series of giant metal mushrooms and concrete pipes – slowed his charge. Pausing for running repairs to his rear wheel following a heavy landing, he got his head straight back in the game and finished off the lap with a two and a five – sustained when he exceeded the six-minute time limit – to take the lead on nineteen.
His lead was short-lived as Jaime Busto – GASGAS then produced the best Qualifying performance of the night to part with just eight marks before Gabriel Marcelli – Repsol Honda lost seventeen and Bou dropped twelve.
With the top three transferring directly to the Final, the remaining riders went head-to-head in a return race across an over-sized Hope logo and series of massive bicycle cranks and metal tubes where Harry Hemingway threatened to blow the arena roof off with a display of controlled aggression that saw him through to the last four.
After trailing home third behind his compatriots Busto and Bou in Super Pole, Marcelli got the Final under way. With the scores reset to zero and sections run in the reverse direction with a one-minute time limit, the pressure was on and the twenty-five-year-old Spaniard fived the opener – as did Hemingway and Busto – as Bou seized an early advantage with just a single mark before Hemingway nailed a sensational clean on section two to take the lead when his three rivals all failed to reach the ends cards.
With the audience approaching fever pitch, Hemingway produced an incredible clean ride in section three – as did Bou and Busto – to maintain his lead at the halfway point, but Marcelli added another two marks on the virtually gripless concrete cylinders.
Bou moved into a four-mark lead with a clean ride on section four where both Busto and Hemingway picked up maximums and Marcelli needed two marks, but Hemingway halved the deficit with a clean ride on the Red Bull-backed section five that consisted of a succession of imposing metal obstacles separated by a series of gap jumps.
With Bou scoring a two, Busto getting through for a single mark and Marcelli taking five, Hemingway was assured of a sensational second, but he was just two behind Bou and had his eyes fixed firmly on the big prize.
Having watched Marcelli and Busto both complete the final section for one, Hemingway also added another mark to his total, firing out of the hazard with two seconds remaining to heap the pressure on Bou.
With the result – and twenty vital championship points – hanging in the balance, Bou responded with a two-mark ride to claim a super-slim victory that extends his championship advantage to thirty-four points with four rounds remaining, but the first-ever X-Trial Leeds will forever be remembered for Harry Hemingway’s heroics.
“It’s been unbelievable,” he said. “The crowd, everything – I can’t ask for anything more. I’ve made my first X-Trial podium on my twentieth birthday and I wasn’t only just on it – I’ve finished second and taken the fight to the world champion, Toni Bou, with one mark in it. There was so much pressure in the last section, but I know that I can do it now.”
Tickets for X-Trial Leeds 2027 that will take place on Saturday 23 January will be on sale later next month so keep a look out as the second edition is sure to be a sell out for what just might be Harry’s first ever X-Trial win!
FULL RESULTS