Bou seals an important victory in Barcelona
By G2F on 8th Feb 09
Toni Bou - Repsol Montesa HRC sealed an important victory at the third round of the 2009 SPEA FIM Indoor Trial World Championship held in Barcelona, Spain and in doing took a big step towards retaining his title. Adam Raga Gas Gas finished as eventual runner up after recovering from a terrible start that saw him lose the opening race and five the first two sections. Winner of the last round Albert Cabestany Sherco took third spot on this occasion, but in truth never looked like repeating his victory.
Typically the event in Barcelona served up a series of massive steps that resulted in many fives and far less cleans. With no qualifying at this round, the starting order was decided by the reverse order of the current championship standings. This perhaps proved to be critical for Raga who initially had the disadvantage of riding in front of all his main rivals. Surprising it was Jeroni Fajardo – Beta who was the early leader with a race win and a strong showing through the first three observed sections.
Pic: Cabestany
Fajardo's challenge would fade as the Trial moved on, and despite his best efforts he would eventually miss out on a podium place by a single mark. In contrast Raga was mounting an incredible fight back that would take him from fifth after four hazards up to fourth after another three sections and finally to a worthy second place come the finish. Whilst Adam managed to limit the damage in the end, Bou has still extended his lead at the top of the general standings.
Bou sealed his win with an outstanding ride in section eight, which was fittingly sponsored by Montesa. The opening double step caused all the riders problems, but it was the next massive step that stopped all but Toni. Whilst the reigning champion remained feet up, he was docked just a single point for running over the one-minute time limit. This performance destroyed the opposition and put Bou nine marks clear of the rest of the field with just three sections remaining.
Even a very uncharacteristic five at the very first step in the final log hazard could not prevent Bou from recording an emphatic win in his home city. The podium was an all-Spanish affair with Raga and Cabestany filling the other two steps of the podium respectively. Takahisa Fujinami – Repsol Montesa HRC suffered his worst result of the series to date, finishing down in a lowly fifth spot.
2009 SPEA FIM INDOOR TRIAL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Round 3 – Barcelona – Spain 08 February - Sunday
Results:
Trial
1: Antonio Bou (SPA-Montesa-HRC) 12,
2: Adam Raga (SPA-Gas Gas) 21,
3: Albert Cabestany (SPA-Sherco) 25,
4: Jeroni Fajardo (SPA-Beta) 26,
5: Takahisa Fujinami (JPN-Montesa-HRC) 31,
6: Michael Brown (GBR-Sherco) 44
Current FIM championship standings:
1: Bou 22, 2: Cabestany 16,
3: Raga 16, 4: Fujinami 13, 5: Fajardo 9,
6: Brown 5, 7: Lampkin 4, 8: Gubian 1
For more information please visit www.fim-live.com