Spanish Indoor
By TMX Archives on 5th Dec 07
THE fascinating battle between reigning World Indoor and Outdoor trials champion Toni Bou and his predecessor Adam Raga has continued into the Spanish Indoor season and Raga, who has already beaten his great rival to claim the 2007 Spanish Trials title, is again giving Bou a hard time. The latest encounter came in the northern city of Santander which after a tough tussle eventually went in Bou's favour - after Raga had easily won the Qualifying round. And Bou's victory put the two rivals joint first in the title chase - with just one round to go! The trial was staged in front of 300 eager fans, a good turnout considering the rival attraction of an important football match, with seven far from easy hazards to tackle. First rider in action was teenager and World Youth Champ Alfredo Gomez who was having his first ever Indoor outing. And it was a trial by fire for the young Gas Gas pilot who unsurprisingly fived every zone.
Sherco's protege Dani Oliveiras was next in and the slightly more experienced rider - he has competed in the previous four rounds - claimed a clean on the second section and then eased through the fifth for a three and a two on the last for a total of 27. This proved good enough for fifth place from the seven starters and represented a welcome step in the right direction for Dani.
As British riders such as Shaun Morris will attest, it is incredibly difficult to advance in the Indoor scene simply because you need specialist practise that just isn't available. The scalp of Marc Freixas was an important one for young Oliveiras.
Jeroni Fajardo then set a new benchmark of 21 on his factory Beta REV3 before the Big 3 of Albert Cabestany, Bou and Raga stepped-in to do their thing.
Cabestany only just beat Jeroni's efforts, three points better and then a nervous Bou fived the first and third sections, as Raga cleaned the first and only dropped one in the third to take a comfortable heat win.
But it was much closer in the three-man final which any of the three could have won but went in Bou's favour as he cleaned the second zone where the other two failed after all three took maximums on the opener and on number three.
At the end, Bou said he was very happy with the result, particularly as he was so nervous in the Qualifier. In turn, Raga was also upbeat, saying, "I am second but this is not a worry as I was riding very well and we were only one small mistake away from the win. So we take the title to the last round!”
RESULTS
Qualifying: 1 Adam Raga (Gas Gas) 8, 2 Toni Bou (Repsol Montesa) 16, 3 Albert Cabestany (Sherco) 18, 4 Jeroni Fajardo (Beta) 21, 5 Daniel Oliveiras (Sherco) 27, 6 Marc Freixa (Scorpa) 29, 7 Alfredo Gomez (Gas Gas) 35.
Final: 1 Toni Bou (Repsol Montesa) 22, 2 Adam Raga (Gas Gas) 26, 3 Albert Cabestany (Sherco) 27.