Bou's on cloud nine
By G2F on 6th Sep 07
HAVING already clinched the 2007 FIM SPEA World Trials Championship, following the last minute cancellation of the Belgian GP, Toni Bou confirmed his crown with yet another win at the revised final round in Andorra. Bou's latest victory takes his tally to nine for the season, with the Repsol Montesa HRC rider only headed twice by Adam Raga, who once again followed him in Sant Julia de Loria.
Britain's Dougie Lampkin proved that he can stillmix it with the best and claimed a morale boosting third spot at theend of a season that has been restricted by a hand injury sustained atthe Japanese round. Much speculation surrounds Lampkin's future, withthe 31-year-old multi World champion saying: ''The next few weeks willdecide if this was my last GP or not. I want to continue to ride, butonly under the right circumstances, as I have shown today that I amstill on the pace.''
With Dougie enjoying his return to the rostrum,there was further home cheer for the healthy gaggle of travellingBritish fans, with recently crowned World Junior champion Michael Brownmarking his maiden ride in the top class with a fantastic ninth spot.
While Brown was celebrating his arrival to theWorld championship proper, James Dabill rounded out what has been sucha promising season for the 21-year-old from Leeds with the worst resultof his campaign. Dabill's disastrous 11th place saw him lose seventhposition in the series to Marc Freixa as the Scorpa rider finished inseventh spot on the day.
In the Youth category Ross Danby missed theopportunity of a win, with champion Alfredo Gomez having opted to moveup a class. However despite the British Gas Gas rider only managingfourth spot on the day, this was sufficient for him to hold on tosecond place in the series standings. European Youth Champ, JackChalloner, once again confirmed that he will be a real title contenderin 2008 with a solid sixth place to close out his limited campaign atWorld level.
It was Alfedo Gomez who stole the show in theJunior division with a victory at his first attempt, however his winwas not without challenge, as Sam Haslam kept him under pressure allday to come home as runner-up in the dry, hot and dusty conditions.
Alexz Wigg struggled on the steep and grippysections and could only place fifth in Andorra, but this was enough forthe 125 mounted rider to finish as vice-champion in his first season inthis class.
This year the GP of Andorra was hosted at its moretraditional setting of Sant Julia De Loria, a small town just over theSpanish border, but some1,500 metres above sea level. The 15-kilometrecourse - the maximum length permitted by FIM rules - wound itselfaround the hills high above the town-centre paddock, with all but fourof the sections comprising of steep and dusty rock faces.
The later hazards, with the exception of the man-made affair back at the start area, were situated in the local river.
WORLD TRIALS CHAMPIONSHIP
Rd 9 St Julia, ANDORRA
1 Toni Bou (E - Repsol MontesaHRC) 8 + 6+ 5 = 19
2 Adam Raga (E - Raga Gas Gas) 12 + 12 +1 = 25
3 Doug LAMPKIN (GB - RepsolMontesa) 21 + 21+ - = 42
4 Albert Cabestany (E - TarragonaSherco) 23 + 23+ 2 = 48
5 Takahisa Fujinami (J - RepsolMontesa) 35 + 14+ 10 = 59
6 Jeroni Fajardo (E - Beta) 24 + 22 + 14 = 60
FINAL SERIES STANDINGS: 1 Toni Bou 214 points (CHAMPION), 2 Adam Raga191, 3 Takahisa Fujinami 155, 4 Cabestany 135, 5 LAMPKIN 134, 6 Fajardo104, 7 Freixa 95, 8 DABILL 94, 9 Oliveras 52, 10 Bruand 37, 11 Bethune31, 12 Maurino 29, 13 Pasquet 24, 14 Gibert 22, 15 Shaun MORRIS 18, 16Tsuyoshi Ogawa 18, 17 Kenichi Kuroyama 17, 18 Tomoyuki Ogawa 15, 19Tadeusz Blazusiak 11, 20 Fumitaka Nozaki 10, 21 Graham JARVIS 8,... 23BROWN 7,...
WORLD JUNIOR TRIALS CHAMPIONSHIP
1 Alfredo Gomez (E - Gas Gas) 23 + 21 +1 = 45
2 Sam HASLAM (GB - JST Gas Gas) 29 + 20 +- = 49
3 Matteo Grattarola (I - Sherco) 21 + 26 +3 = 50
4 Guillaume Laniel (F - Camozzi GasGas) 29 + 33+ - = 62
5 Alexz WIGG (GB - JST Gas Gas) 35 + 32 +- = 67
6 Laia Sanz (E - Repsol MontesaHRC) 33 + 34+ - = 67
FINAL SERIES STANDINGS: 1 Michael BROWN 189 points(CHAMPION), 2 Alexz WIGG 152, 3 Nicolas Gontard 134, 4 Grattarola 126,5 HASLAM 111, 6 Gubian 94, 7 SAMPSON 90, 8 Sanz 73, 9 Laniel 68, 10Vaccaretti 63, 11 Arnaud 32, 12 Schaefer 25, 13 Fredrik Johansson 23,14 Gomez 20, 15 Akira Shibata 17, 16 Gyllenhammar 17, 17 RichardELLWOOD 17,... 25 Craig ROBINSON 4,... 27 James FRY 3,... 30 Sean DOYLE2,...
FIM YOUTH TRIALS CHAMPS
1 David Millan (E - Sherco) 21 + 10 + - = 31
2 Alexis Cervantes (F - ShercoFrance) 18 + 15+ - = 33
3 Ross DANBY (GB - JST Gas Gas) 21 + 18 + - = 39
4 Jack CHALLONER (GB - RepsolBeta) 23 + 17 +- = 40
5 Antonio Alfonso (E - Gas Gas) 20 + 23 + - = 43
6 Alexandre Ferrer (F - Beta) 26 + 18 + 3 = 47
FINAL SERIES STANDINGS: 1 Alfredo Gomez 190 points(CHAMPION), 2 Ross DANBY 162, 3 Alexis Cervantes 150, 4 Millan 105, 5Alfonso 85, 6 Patrick Smage 80, 7 Morell 60, 8 Griebel 49, 9 Botella49, 10 Ferrer 48, 11 Benoit Dagnicourt 36, 12 Martel 34, 13 Pastoriza32, 14 Jack CHALLONER 31, 15 Robert ANDREWS 29,... 23 Adam JONES 4,...
For full report, results and pictures see T+MX NEWS, Friday, September 7, 2007.
