Bou's reign in Spain
By TMX Archives on 25th Sep 08
TONI Bou wrapped up his second successive World Outdoor Trials title with an emphatic win at the final round of the 2008 series, held just 20 kilometres from his hometown in Spain. With a winning score of a mere 10 marks, Bou came home 16 marks clear of Adam Raga, who simply had no answer to the new champion at an event where Spanish riders dominated the podium. Following on from his runner-up spot in Portugal last week, Jeroni Fajardo produced another stunning performance to clinch third on the day and fourth overall in the championship standings.
The Spanish Grand Prix was a tough affair for all but Bou, and one that left Dougie Lampkin down in a distant sixth place after the 32-year-old failed to find his form on the technical and sometimes dangerous hazards. A mid season resurgence by the ex-multi World Champion had lifted him to as high as fourth in the general classifications, but two bad results in the closing two rounds have seen Lampkin slip down the order to rest in sixth place in the final championship standings.
A five on the very last section of the trial robbed Takahisa Fujinami of a podium finish, this late mistake dropped the Japanese rider down to fourth, but still ahead of Albert Cabestany who placed fifth on the day and fifth in the series after yet another inconsistent season. Britain's young hope, in the form of James Dabill, failed to shine in the difficult conditions and came home in eighth position, 10 marks behind rival Marc Freixa. Dabill ended up in eighth place in the championship for the second year running.
The unforgiving terrain was far from the ideal setting for Michael Brown to make his return, after having missed Portugal due to a back injury. The 2008 European champion limped home in a sore 12th position.
In the other two classes, Spain recorded two more winners with Alfredo Gomez sneaking the victory in the Junior category on a most cleans tie break from Alexz Wigg. The young Brit lost out by a single clean, but can at least take some positives having returned strongly since his mid-season knee operation. Jordi Tarres' young recruit, Francesc Moret, topped the Youth division to claim second in the final championship positions. Recently crowned World Youth champion, Jack Challoner, confirmed that he will be a serious challenger in the Junior ranks next season, after recording a fantastic fourth place at only his second outing at this level.
Jonathan Richardson claimed yet another top ten finish in his first full season in the Youth category and in doing so took second in the SPEA Hopeful Trophy, which recognises the achievements of the newcomers in the 16 to 18 year-old feeder class. This award was won by Pere Borrellas from Spain, who finished just above Richardson in the main Youth standings.
The part-finished Parcmotor motorsports venue just outside Barcelona fell somewhat short of the FIM's self imposed requirements in terms of facilities, but still managed to serve up a tasty finale to what has been a closely fought championship. The long, technical, dry and typically Spanish sections were dished-up with some extra spice, as Friday's overnight rain meant that they became slippery too, as the damp soil dragged onto the many boulders. >>>
It was clear from the severity of the hazards that the trial had been designed for the top few, and was the perfect stage for Bou to show his superiority when the going gets tough.
Bou's opening lap total of just three marks seemed impossible, and was a pure exhibition of his sheer skill in the highest order. His losses were restricted to single dabs in sections five, 11 and 15, the latter of these under the full glare of the many Spanish TV cameras that were present to capture Toni's final passage to his second crown. Fujinami was Bou's nearest challenger at the mid point, although his score of 15 marks hardly had his team mate under pressure. Raga and Fajardo were the only other two riders anywhere near this leading pace, the Spanish duo being on 16 and 17 marks respectively at this point.
As has often been the case this season, Raga upped his game on the second lap, almost matching Bou's rides mark for mark. Adam's last tour total of ten was sufficient for him to leapfrog Fujinami and hold off Fajardo, who matched Raga's closing performance, but it was not enough to stop Bou from his taking seventh win of the season and with it the title.
Cabestany summed-up his year with lap scores of 32 and 11 to take fifth, whilst Lampkin endured two poor laps that included no less than seven fives. Dougie will no doubt spend the coming weeks to ponder his future, with next year's top three almost guaranteed to feature Bou, Raga and Fujinami. The only question that remains is, in what order..?
WORLD TRIALS CHAMPS
Rd 10 – Castelloli, SPAIN
1 Toni Bou (E - Montesa) 3 + 7 = 10
2 Adam Raga (E - Gas Gas) 16 + 10 = 26
3 Jeroni Fajardo (E - Beta) 17 + 10 = 27
4 Takahisa Fujinami (J - Montesa) 15 + 17 = 32
5 Albert Cabestany (E - Sherco) 32 + 11 = 43
6 Dougie LAMPKIN (GB - Beta) 35 + 25 = 60
7 Marc Freixa (E - Gas Gas) 56 + 25 = 81
8 James DABILL (GB - Montesa) 47 + 44 = 91
9 Jordi Pasquet (E - Beta) 55 + 41 = 96
10 Daniel Oliveras (E - Sherco) 57 + 41 = 98
11 Loris Gubian (F - Sherco) 54 + 45 = 99
12 Michael BROWN (GB - Beta) 54 + 47 = 101
13 Daniele Maurino (I - Gas Gas) 66 + 60 = 126
14 Nicolas Gontard (F - Gas Gas) 69 + 75 = 144
SERIES STANDINGS after 10 rounds: 1 Toni Bou 225 points (CHAMPION), 2 Adam Raga 208, 3 Takahisa Fujinami 183, 4 Fajardo 142, 5 Cabestany 133, 6 LAMPKIN 130, 7 Freixa 104, 8 DABILL 98, 9 BROWN 72, 10 Oliveras 65, 11 Maurino 28, 12 Pasquet 20, 13 Tomoyuki Ogawa 15, 14 Fumitaka Nozaki 14, 15 Kenichi Kuroyama 14, 16 Jerome Bethune 14, 17 Henri Himmanen 12, 18 Martin Kroustek 7, 19 Shaun MORRIS 6,...
WORLD JUNIOR TRIALS CHAMPS
1 Alfredo Gomez (E - Montesa) 19 + 4 = 23
2 Alexz WIGG (GB - Montesa) 9 + 14 = 23
3 Matteo Grattarola (I - Sherco) 25 + 15 = 40
4 Jack CHALLONER (GB - Beta) 28 + 17 = 45
5 Guillaume Laniel (F - Gas Gas) 33 + 18 = 51
6 Ross DANBY (GB - Gas Gas) 38 + 24 = 62
7 Sam HASLAM (GB - Gas Gas) 31 + 34 = 65
8 David Millan (E - Sherco) 40 + 28 = 68
9 Adrian Pastoriza (E - Gas Gas) 34 + 35 = 69
10 Laia Sanz (E - Montesa) 39 + 35 = 74
11 Pau Botella (E - Gas Gas) 44 + 33 = 77
12 Fredrik Johansson (S - Beta) 48 + 33 = 81
13 Alexis Cervantes (F - Sherco) 44 + 43 = 87
14 Jan Junklewitz (D - Sherco) 47 + 40 = 87
15 Jan Peters (D - Beta) 63 + 63 = 126
SERIES STANDINGS after 10 rounds (Best 10 day scores to count): 1 Loris Gubian 183 points (CHAMPION), 2 Alezx WIGG 171, 3 Alfredo Gomez 150, 4 Grattarola 137, 5 HASLAM 125, 6 DANBY 118, 7 Laniel 111, 8 Johansson 51, 9 Millan 50, 10 Sanz 50, 11 Jochen Schaefer 42, 12 Emil Gyllenhammar 39, 13 CHALLONER 21, 14 Cervantes 20, 15 Julien Perret 19,... 19 Lee SAMPSON 14,... 30 George MORTON 6,...
FIM YOUTH TRIALS CHAMPS
1 Francesc Moret (E - Gas Gas) 13 + 4 = 17
2 Alexandre Ferrer (F - Sherco) 20 + 1 = 21
3 Benoit Dagnicourt (F - Beta) 20 + 16 = 36
4 Luca Cotone (I - Sherco) 21 + 22 = 43
5 Marc Horrach (E - Gas Gas) 25 + 19 = 44
6 Tanguy Mottin (F - Gas Gas) 29 + 24 = 53
7 Pere Borrellas (E - Gas Gas) 31 + 25 = 56
8 Francesc Ciurana (E - Beta) (7x1) 31 + 27 = 58
9 J RICHARDSON (GB - Sherco) (3x1) 38 + 20 = 58
10 Simone Staltari (I - Gas Gas) 35 + 25 = 60
11 Hakon Pedersen (N - Sherco) 39 + 26 = 65
12 Jake Whitaker (NZ - HM) 38 + 31 = 69
13 Marcos Mendez (E - Sherco) 41 + 32 = 73
14 Jonathan WALKER (GB - Sherco) 43 + 32 = 75
FINAL SERIES STANDINGS after 10 rounds (Best 10 day scores to count): 1 Jack CHALLONER 171 points (CHAMPION), 2 Francesc Moret 169, 3 Alexandre Ferrer 163, 4 Adrian Pastoriza 128, 5 Dagnicourt 122, 6 Pau Botella 107, 7 Patrick Smage 99, 8 Borrellas 88, 9 RICHARDSON 75, 10 Whitaker 67, 11 Cotone 47, 12 Maxime Warenghien 47, 13 Horrach 46, 14 Staltari 28, 15 Ciurana 26,... 25 WALKER 7,... 28 Adam JONES 4,... 39 Jack THOMPSON 1.