The final countdown
By TMX Archives on 30th Aug 07
FOLLOWING the shock news last week that the Belgian round of the 2007 SPEA World Trials Championship, that ought to have been the final event of the series on September 23, has been cancelled, Sunday's event in Andorra will wrap-up this year's series.
As we announced last week, Toni Bou is the newWorld Champ and will ride as such in Andorra on Sunday. The youngSpaniard is the first four-stroke champ since Eddy Lejeune back in 1984and no doubt the Honda/ Repsol Montesa crew will have some kind ofspecial party planned to hail their latest success.
Bou goes into Andorra exactly 20 points ahead ofdefending champ Adam Raga but even if Bou fails to finish he is stillchamp as he has a vastly superior win rate over the Gas Gas rider.
In fact, the first three places in the series are certain, with former champ Takahisa Fujinami equally safe in third.
Britain's Dougie Lampkin sits in fifth, just four points behind Albert Cabestany but last year's result
doesn't go in Doug's favour as Albert actually wonin Andorra 12 months ago. Doug will be gving it everything though andhe has always been the man to put your money on in a pressure situation.
James Dabill has an even harder task, currently inseventh place, six points behind his season-long nemesis JeroniFajardo. With typical bravado James recently said, ''I'll just have togo out and win it then, won't I.'' Get in there Dibs!
And looking to come up on the rails and possiblysteal seventh - or even sixth with a stunner of a ride - is MarcFreixa, who just might finish with a flourish on the massively improvedScorpa four-stroke.
Shaun Morris will be giving it a season's finalbig effort on his Gasser while newly-crowned World Junior champ MichaelBrown will be giving his TTT Beta an airing in the Championship classfor the first time in order to get the feel of things before tacklingthe Premier class next year. It is a big jump and Browny needs to getthe feel of it at least.
The usual bevy of Brits will be looking to make aname for themselves in the Junior with Alexz Wigg, Richard Ellwood, SamHaslam, Lee Sampson and George Morton in there battling away.
Alfredo Gomez is already crowned World Youth Champbut Ross Danby is still in with a good shout of becoming vice-champ,having to duke it out with young French ace Nicolas Gontard.
Check it all out next week - along with Eric Kitchen's untouchable photographs!
