Just to rub it in!
By TMX Archives on 19th Mar 09
TONI Bou used the fifth and final round of the 2009 SPEA FIM World Indoor Trials Champs, staged in Madrid, Spain, on Saturday evening, to rub in just why he tied-up the series at the previous round.Bou and his factory Repsol Montesa completed the two-lane race and all six sections in the final without loss to finish on zero marks, the perfect winning score. But while Bou used the Madrid event as a lap of honour, in front of a big crowd, there was a real pressure-cooker atmosphere for the podium placings both on the night and for the Championship. Former champ- ions, Adam Raga and Albert Cabestany, were both in the fight with Raga, out on the new gold and black Raga Rep', holding the advantage going into the final round. It was Cabestany who came out on top though and although the four-stroke Sherco rider only finished third, behind Bou and surprise second placeman Jeroni Fajardo on the
factory Beta, Raga finished a disappointing fifth, which handed Cabestany the vice-champion's bib and demoted himself to third in the series.
The Madrid round was the second visit to Spain for the series but, whereas the Barcelona sections were way over the top, Saturday's proved much easier.
The organisers had drafted in two wild-card riders, both Spanish, in Alfredo Gomez (Montesa) and Dani Oliveras (Gas Gas). They also debuted a new qualifying system where two riders simultaneously rode two different sections before switching and repeating the process. It didn't help Britain's Michael Brown though, as the Sherco two-stroke contender was eliminated before the final, as was Gomez.
Bou easily qualified best on just three marks lost, followed by his team-mate Fujinami on 15 then the battling Raga and Cabestany on 16 and 17 respectively, while wild-card Oliveras actually nudged Fajardo down to sixth and final qualifier. This obviously stung the Beta rider and he came out meaning business in the final.
None of what was going on behind worried Bou in the slightest as he brushed aside the
sections to win in style on the perfect zero. It was a very low scoring final, although Oliveras proved that it was no walkover, dropping three maximums and a total of 25.
Up at the sharp end, Raga got the better of Cabestany to win their head to head race and took a two-point lead but then dropped three marks in the next three sections to Cabestany's one. They then both cleaned the fifth and then it got interesting. Cabestany cleaned the penultimate section whereas Raga appeared to drop two marks but was only docked one.
And so to the final section, the waterfall, where Raga failed to follow the exact section route and was fived while Cabestany went on to clean the section, take third on the night and with Raga down in fifth the pair were level on total Championship points. However, with the benefit of actually having won a round, Marseille, Cabestany and the thumping Sherco claimed the runner-up spot in the series.
WORLD INDOOR TRIALS CHAMPIONSHIP
Rd 5 (Final) Palacio de Deportes, Madrid, SPAIN
OVERALL: 1 Toni Bou (J - Repsol Montesa HRC) 1 mark lost, 2 Jeroni Fajardo (F - Beta) 2, 3 Albert Cabestany (E - Gas Gas) 3, 4 Takahisa Fujinami (PL - Beta) 4, 5 Adam Raga (E - Gas Gas) 5, 6 Daniel Oliveras (E - Sherco) 6.
ELIMINATED IN QUALIFYING: 7 Alfredo Gomez (E -Sherco) 22, 8 Michael BROWN (GB - Sherco) 22.
FINAL SERIES STANDINGS after 5 rounds: 1 Toni Bou 38 points, 2 Albert Cabestany 25, 3 Adam Raga 25, 4 Takahisa Fujinami 22, 5 Jeroni Fajardo 18, 6 Michael BROWN 7, 7 Dougie LAMPKIN 4, 8 Daniel Oliveras 2, 9 Alfredo Gomez 1, 10 Loris Gubian 1.