Bang'on Mr Raga!
By TMX Archives on 9th Apr 08
ADAM Raga gave warning to reigning World Champion Toni Bou that he wants that crown back by taking a superb win in the second round of the 2008 SPEA FIM series, staged in Bangor, Northern Ireland by the Lighweight MCC. Raga, on his one-off prototype super-light factory Gas Gas, completed the two laps of 15 tough sections for just 21 marks with opening round winner Bou being pushed down to second, on a total of 28. But as five of these were down to time faults, the actual difference in observation was just two. In third place, just like last week, was Bou's Repsol Montesa team-mate, popular Japanese ace Takahisa Fujinami. It was close for the following three places with Dougie Lampkin being edged down to sixth by Albert Cabestany, and his (Doug's) Beta team-mate Jeroni Fajardo. Doug did get the better of Marc Freixa though on atie-break!
The sections were divided into two very different types, two groups on the exposed, rocky sea-front numbers two to six and 12 to14, and an inland gully comprising a steep climbing, tight gully sections six to 11. Numbers one and 15 were man-made log and rock numbers in the parc ferme.
After the man-made opener, for the benefit of locals, it was straight into the Irish sea, literally, as the second section featured a jump across a narrow gully and with a high tide being whipped-up by a strong, and intensely cold wind, spuming spray and sudden surges were all to contend with. MIchael Brown made a good start with a single but his pal James Dabill started his day with a dismal five. Fajardo, Cabestany, Bou and Fuji all cleaned with Raga and Dougie taking singles.
Number three also ventured down to the tide line and the rocks were super-slippery, taking Bou for a
surprise five as Raga, Fuji and Cabes all cleaned.
Section four was the big one, featuring two monster vertical rock climbs on the shoreline. The majority of Championship contenders refused to take it on and asked for fives including, surprisingly, Cabestany and Freixa who had a quick conflab before getting their cards punched and scooting off. Dibs was the first rider to give it a go and fair-play to him, it took some balls to tackle those rock faces and he only foundered to a deserved huge cheer from an appreciative crowd on the second and most fierce climb. Dougie, Fuji and Raga all gave it a go but none could master it until last man, Bou, earned a massive roar for a fantastic one-dab effort. At the time it looked all the way like a winning ride!
But into the muddy gully and Bou immediately gave away a five at the eighth when he failed on a climb he would normally expect to clean and suddenly Raga had an edge as both he and Cabestany cleaned. Cabestany alone, in his quiet style, actually cleaned the entire gully and looked to be a genuine contender. But a pair of threes on the penultimate rocky numbers, plus a five on the final section, spoiled what was a cracking opening lap score for the Sherco number one.
The arena style final hazard was far from easy though and the final vertical step stopped most with only Bou cleaning, although with Raga easing through for just a single, Toni didn't gain a lot. So it was straight out for a second circuit and the spectators were gathered at the awesome fourth where Cabestany again opted not to bother. Dabill showed his bottle was present and correct with another full-on attack as did Doug but for all their effort a maximum 10 marks was no reward.
Fuji brought the ever-so-patient fans to life though with a brilliant ride and the crowd were right behind him when he was docked marks for what we' all saw as a clean. Not even Raga or Bou could conquer the mighty final climb which made Fuji's effort all the more remarkable. Raga held his hard-earned advantage up the gully but back on the seafront, at 12, the wheels came off his cart when, according to Adam, the wind caught his front wheel and he ended up under the bike!
Bou was finishing strong and was now right on Adam's case with a mere two observation marks in it as they approached the final arena-style section. On the lap, only Jeroni Fajardo had shown some lovely skill to urge the Beta up the final vertical log to beat the five of everyone else, so Raga knew that one or less would guarantee the win. It was a pressure ride but Adam was up to it, making easy work of the monster step (which would not have been out of place at the Barcelona Indoor) on his high-revving stroker. Bou followed up with a textbook clean, as only he could, but the damage was done and Toni knew that he had been beaten fair and square on the day.
Fans' favourite, Fuji, came back well from a first lap when: ...I make too many mistakes,'' to bag his second third place in just over a week.
Cabestany rode in his own understated way to just miss the podium, the final three sections costing him dearly. Doug was also disappointed as promising rides too often just failed to deliver and he deserved better than sixth.
Jim Dabill showed that he is up for the fight but lost ground on his target-man, Freixa, the latter coming to life with a brilliant second lap of just 13. But, in turn, Dibs was 30 marks ahead of European winner Michael Brown. Shaun Morris, still having major problems with his vision, had a tough day at the office, garnering just a single clean, to net a courageous twelfth.No two ways about it, Davy Rodgers had set a very challenging course and as ever, the World's best rose to the occasion. Amazingly, every single section was cleaned!
WORLD TRIALS CHAMPIONSHIP
Rd 2 Bangor, NORTHERN IRELAND
1 Adam Raga (E - Gas Gas) 10 + 11 + - = 21
2 Toni Bou (E - Montesa) 14 + 9 + - = 23
3 Takahisa Fujinami (J - Montesa) 22 + 14 + - = 36
4 Albert Cabestany (E - Sherco) 18 + 20 + 1 = 39
5 Jeroni Fajardo (E - Beta) 23 + 18 + - = 41
6 Dougie LAMPKIN (GB - Beta) (13x0) 28 + 19 + - = 47
7 Marc Freixa (E - Gas Gas) (11x0) 34 + 13 + - = 47
8 James DABILL (GB - Montesa) 38 + 24 + - = 62
9 Michael BROWN (GB - Beta) 48 + 43 + - = 91
10 Daniel Oliveras (E - Sherco) 56 + 49 + - = 105
11 Jerome Bethune (F - Beta) 63 + 53 + - = 116
12 Shaun MORRIS (GB - Gas Gas) 63 + 54 + - = 117
13 Daniele Maurino (I - Gas Gas) 53 + 75 + - = 128
14 Carsten Stranghoner (D - Montesa) 68 + 61 + - = 129
15 Henri Himmanen (SF - Beta) 71 + 65 + - = 136
SERIES STANDINGS after 2 rounds: 1 Raga 37 points, 2 Bou 37, 3 Fujinami 30, 4 Cabestany 24, 5 LAMPKIN 23, 6 Fajardo 21, 7 Freixa 18, 8 DABILL 16, 9 BROWN 14, 10 Oliveras 12, 11 Bethune 10, 12 Maurino 7, 13 MORRIS 6, 14 Jordi Pasquet 3, 15 Stranghoner 3, 16 Himmanen 1.
WORLD JUNIOR TRIALS CHAMPIONSHIP
1 Alexz WIGG (GB - Montesa) 11 + 16 + - = 27
2 Sam HASLAM (GB - Gas Gas) 22 + 23 + - = 45
3 Alfredo Gomez (E - Montesa) 30 + 26 + - = 56
4 Loris Gubian (F - Sherco) 33 + 28 + - = 61
5 Matteo Grattarola (I - Sherco) 30 + 32 + - = 62
6 Fredrik Johansson (S - Beta) 35 + 32 + - = 67
7 Ross DANBY (GB - Gas Gas) 39 + 29 + - = 68
8 Guillaume Laniel (F - Gas Gas) 36 + 33 + - = 69
9 Lee SAMPSON (GB - Sherco) 35 + 35 + - = 70
10 Alexis Cervantes (F - Sherco) 49 + 30 + - = 79
11 Jochen Schaefer (D - Montesa) 44 + 36 + - = 80
12 David Millan (E - Sherco) 36 + 47 + - = 83
13 George MORTON (GB - Beta) 41 + 44 + - = 85
14 Laia Sanz (E - Montesa) 45 + 49 + - = 94
15 James FRY (GB - Sherco) 56 + 39 + - = 95
17 Sean DOYLE (IRE -Gas Gas) 52 + 54 + - = 106
19 Craig ROBINSON (GB - Gas Gas) 65 + 53 + - = 118
20 Ben WIBBERLEY (GB - Gas Gas) 56 + 62 + - = 118
21 Harry HARVEY (GB - Gas Gas) 62 + 65 + - = 127
GU Michael Burton (IRE - Gas Gas) 56 + 48 + - = 104
GU Gareth Andrews (IRE - Beta) 61 + 54 + - = 115
SERIES STANDINGS after 2 rounds: 1 WIGG 40 points, 2 Gomez 32, 3 HASLAM 27, 4 Grattarola 26, 5 Gubian 24, 6 Schaefer 18, 7 DANBY 18, 8 Laniel 14, 9 SAMPSON 14, 10 Johansson 11, 11 Cervantes 11, 12 Emil Gyllenhammar 8, 13 Millan 8, 14 Sanz 5, 15 MORTON 3, 16 Julien Arnaud 2, 17 FRY 1.
FIM YOUTH TRIALS CHAMPS
1 Jack CHALLONER (GB - Beta) 15 + 16 + - = 31
2 Patrick Smage (US - Sherco) 15 + 17 + - = 32
3 Francesc Moret (E - Gas Gas) 17 + 19 + - = 36
4 Pau Botella (E - Gas Gas) 19 + 17 + - = 36
5 Alexandre Ferrer (F - Sherco) 16 + 21 + - = 37
6 Adrian Pastoriza (E - Gas Gas) 20 + 18 + - = 38
7 Jonathan RICHARDSON (GB - Sherco) 23 + 25 + - = 48
8 Benoit Dagnicourt (F - Beta) 29 + 20 + - = 49
9 Marc Horrach (E - Gas Gas) 29 + 26 + - = 55
10 Francesc Ciurana (E - Beta) 26 + 30 + - = 56
11 Pere Borrellas (E - Gas Gas) 36 + 21 + - = 57
12 Luca Cotone (I - Sherco) 28 + 30 + - = 58
13 Jonathan WALKER (GB - Sherco) 25 + 35 + - = 60
14 Simone Staltari (I - Gas Gas) 26 + 36 + - = 62
15 Jack THOMPSON (GB - Sherco) 33 + 30 + - = 63
18 Adam JONES (GB - Sherco) 47 + 44 + - = 91
19 Sasha TURKINGTON (IRE - Gas Gas) 64 + 71 + - = 135
GU Donna FOX (GB - Sherco) 57 + 61 + - = 118
SERIES STANDINGS after 2 rounds: 1 CHALLONER 37 points, 2 Moret 35, 3 Smage 32, 4 Botella 24, 5 Pastoriza 23, 6 Ferrer 19, 7 Dagnicourt 17, 8 RICHARDSON 14, 9 Borrellas 11, 10 Tanguy Mottin 10, 11 Ciurana 8, 12 Horrach 7, 13 Maxime Warenghien 7, 14 Cotone 4, 15 Adam JONES 4, 16 WALKER 3, 17 Jake Whitaker 3, 18 Simone Staltari 3, 19 THOMPSON 1.
NEXT ROUND: June 28 Tolmezzo, ITALY.
For full report and pictures see T+MX NEWS, Friday, April 11, 2008