Bou's got the Bolz'
By TMX Archives on 5th Mar 09
TONI Bou is the 2009 SPEA FIM World Indoor Trials Champion!The Repsol Montesa number one, reigning Indoor champ, and hot favourite to retain his title, did just that last Thursday evening winning the penultimate round of the five event series which was staged in Bolzano, northern Italy.
Bolzano last hosted a round of the series back in 2002 and made a welcome return to the Championship calendar. It is only a small stadium, with room for around 3000 spectators but it was packed-out last Thursday evening and those present were able to share in the crowning of a champion.
Bou is now able to ride the final round, in Madrid on Saturday, March 14, with no pressure whatsoever and just enjoy the event and accept the adulation of his fans. The heat is all on his rivals for the position of vice -champion with former Indoor champs Adam Raga and Albert Cabestany separated by just two points, the advantage being Raga's...
The penultimate round of the 2009 SPEA FIM World Indoor Trials Championships was in direct contrast to the Barcelona round which preceded it. Barcelona's San Jordi venue is the biggest stadium on the tour with massive floor space and the capacity to house 14,000 spectators. Bolzano, on the other hand, saw seven sections take-up all the floor space while around 3000 people filled it to capacity.
And while the majority of the Barcelona sections proved all but impossible, with big vertical steps stopping riders dead in their tracks within inches of the Ins cards, the Bolzano hazards, while much easier, encouraged good riding and got the crowd excited and involved.
The Italians had Sherco-mounted Matteo Grattarola as a wild card but not even home support could get the boy through the qualifying round which left the six contracted riders to battle it out in the final.
Qualifying through the five sections saw Bou out front, as ever, having lost just two marks through the five sections. Jeroni Fajardo was enjoying the easier sections and qualified second just ahead of Raga, on a tie-break. So the initial starting order was Brown, Cabestany, Fujinami, Raga, Fajardo and Bou.
So Britain's Michael Brown once again had the pleasure of leading the field into all the sections and while Browny did his best, he found it hard going losing out to fellow Sherco rider Cabestany in the race and collecting five maximums from the remaining six sections. He did get through the second hazard for a single mark though - plus a time fault - but as Brits before him have discovered, like James Dabill and Shaun Morris, the extreme Indoor sections are very difficult to master.
Bou was untouchable through the opening four sections, winning his dual lane race against Fajardo and cleaning the three hazards. The only rider to stay in touch was Raga who beat Fujinami in the race and cleaned the three sections but dropped a single time fault on the last one.
WORLD INDOOR TRIALS CHAMPS
Rd 4 – Bolzano, ITALY
OVERALL: Toni Bou (E - Repsol Montesa HRC) 1 mark lost, Adam Raga (E - Gas Gas) 6, Takahisa Fujinami (J - Repsol Montesa HRC) 10, Albert Cabestany (E -Sherco) 11, Jeroni Fajardo (E - Beta) 20, Michael BROWN (GB - Sherco) 29.
SERIES STANDINGS: 1 Toni Bou 30 points (CHAMPION), 2 Adam Raga 22, 3 Albert Cabestany 20, 4 Takahisa Fujinami 18, 5 Jeroni Fajardo 12, 6 Michael BROWN 7, 7 Dougie LAMPKIN (GB - Beta) 4, 8 Loris Gubian (F - Sherco) 1.
FINAL ROUND: Mar 14 – Palacio de Deportes, Madrid, SPAIN.
FOR FULL STORY AND PICTURES, SEE T+MX NEWS, FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 2009
Albert Cabestany shows off to the Italian crowd but just missed out on a podium place.