Game, set and Tennes' match to Montesa...
By TMX Archives on 30th Apr 08
THE mighty Repsol-Montesa HRC squad dominated the two-day third round of the FIM 2008 SPEA World Trials Championship, staged at Sequatchie, Tennessee, in the United States of America, finishing one-two on both days. The excellent Trials Training Centre venue saw Takahisa Fujinami successful on the opening day, staged in hot, humid but dry conditions, whereas when the rain fell on day two it was World Champ Toni Bou who regained his normal position at the head of the field. The sections were set out in two natural riverbeds and, unusually for a World Round these days, there were no man-made hazards. Rocks, water and fine sandy soil made the going very tricky but Fujigas posted an almost perfect opening lap losing just a single mark. This was three better than Bou, who normally gives nothing away. But it was no fluke as Fuji also outrode his team-mate on the second lap to finish a full seven marks ahead.
Albert Cabestany made it an all four-stroke podium with a steady ride on the Sherco while Adam Raga had a disastrous opening lap, losing three fives on the two-stroke Gas Gas and not even a joint best-on-lap score, second time round, could raise him above fourth place.
And it was even worse news for Dougie Lampkin who could only manage seventh following a lack-lustre ride, while James Dabill, although only one place below Doug, was even further off the pace, a full 30
marks adrift.
On day two, conditions were much more treacherous as persistent rain made the rockery very slippery and, in general, scores were up. They certainly were at the head of the field as although the on-form Fujigas held a narrow first lap lead, Bou eventually edged ahead to maintain his lead at the top of the World Championship table as Fuji had just one maximum too many. Raga, although never on the pace of the Repsol team-mates, made a better start and bagged a clear podium place to stay within range of series leader Bou.
Surprisingly, Cabestany dropped to seventh behind Dabill who, although he dropped almost the same marks as the previous day, was this time only two marks away from fourth place, a much better performance overall. Lampkin's weekend went from bad to worse though, as he finished a poor eighth.
It was a good weekend for the Spanish B' squad though with Jeroni Fajardo and a rejuvenated Marc Freixa both showed well and both proved to be stubborn thorns in the flesh of Lampkin and Dabill.
WORLD TRIALS CHAMPIONSHIP
Rd 3 Sequatchie, Tennessee, USA
DAY ONE
1 Takahisa Fujinami (J - Montesa) 1 + 8 + - = 9
2 Toni Bou (E - Montesa) 4 + 12 + - = 16
3 Albert Cabestany (E - Sherco) 14 + 14 + - = 28
4 Adam Raga (E - Gas Gas) 22 + 8 + - = 30
5 Marc Freixa (E - Gas Gas) 23 + 13 + 1 = 37
6 Jeroni Fajardo (E - Beta) 26 + 12 + - = 38
7 Dougie LAMPKIN (GB - Beta) 26 + 19 + - = 45
8 James DABILL (GB - Montesa) 39 + 32 + 2 = 73
9 Daniel Oliveras (E - Sherco) 58 + 36 + 1 = 95
10 Michael BROWN (GB - Beta) 48 + 61 + 2 = 111
DAY TWO
1 Toni Bou (E - Montesa) 23 + 10 + - = 33
2 Takahisa Fujinami (J - Montesa) 22 + 16 + - = 38
3 Adam Raga (E - Gas Gas) 33 + 21 + - = 54
4 Jeroni Fajardo (E - Beta) (10x0) 39 + 35 + - = 74
5 Marc Freixa (E - Gas Gas) (6x0) 41 + 33 + - = 74
6 James DABILL (GB - Montesa) 36 + 37 + 3 = 76
7 Albert Cabestany (E - Sherco) 41 + 38 + - = 79
8 Dougie LAMPKIN (GB - Beta) 48 + 36 + - = 84
9 Daniel Oliveras (E - Sherco) 67 + 50 + - = 117
10 Michael BROWN (GB - Beta) 75 + 75 + - = 150
SERIES STANDINGS after 3 rounds: 1 Bou 74 points, 2 Fujinami 67, 3 Raga 65, 4 Cabestany 48, 5 Fajardo 44, 6 LAMPKIN 40, 7 Freixa 40, 8 DABILL 34, 9 Oliveras 26, 10 BROWN 26, 11 Jerome Bethune 10, 12 Daniele Maurino 7, 13 Shaun MORRIS 6, 14 Jordi Pasquet 3, 15 Carsten Stranghoner 3, 16 Henri Himmanen 1.
WORLD JUNIOR TRIALS CHAMPIONSHIP
DAY ONE
1 Loris Gubian (F - Sherco) 17 + 18 + - = 35
2 Ross DANBY (GB - Gas Gas) 24 + 21 + - = 45
3 Matteo Grattarola (I - Sherco) 21 + 25 + - = 46
4 Sam HASLAM (GB - Gas Gas) 27 + 22 + - = 49
5 Alexz WIGG (GB - Mont) (14x0, 5x1) 22 + 30 + - = 52
6 Alfredo Gomez (E - Mont) (14x0,2x1) 33 + 19 + - = 52
7 Guillaume Laniel (F - Gas Gas) 37 + 25 + - = 62
8 David Millan (E - Sherco) 31 + 32 + - = 63
9 Cody Webb (US - Sherco) 34 + 33 + - = 67
10 Fredrik Johansson (S - Beta) 32 + 39 + - = 71
11 Will Ibsen (US - Gas Gas) 36 + 38 + - = 74
12 Laia Sanz (E - Montesa) 41 + 49 + - = 90
13 Ewoud Lalkens (NL - Gas Gas) 68 + 64 + - = 132
DAY TWO
1 Loris Gubian (F - Sherco) 28 + 28 + - = 56
2 Alexz WIGG (GB - Montesa) 25 + 34 + - = 59
3 Sam HASLAM (GB - Gas Gas) 38 + 29 + - = 67
4 Ross DANBY (GB - Gas Gas) 42 + 35 + - = 77
5 Guillaume Laniel (F - Gas Gas) 45 + 33 + - = 78
6 Alfredo Gomez (E - Montesa) 34 + 45 + - = 79
7 Cody Webb (US - Sherco) 43 + 39 + - = 82
8 Matteo Grattarola (I - Sherco) 48 + 36 + - = 84
9 David Millan (E - Sherco) 47 + 47 + - = 94
10 Fredrik Johansson (S - Beta) 55 + 46 + - = 101
11 Laia Sanz (E - Montesa) 59 + 45 + - = 104
12 Will Ibsen (US - Gas Gas) 60 + 59 + - = 119
13 Ewoud Lalkens (NL - Gas Gas) 71 + 69 + - = 140
SERIES STANDINGS: 1 WIGG 68 points, 2 Gubian 64, 3 HASLAM 55, 4 Gomez 52, 5 Grattarola 49, 6 DANBY 48, 7 Laniel 34, 8 Johansson 23, 9 Millan 23, 10 Jochen Schaefer 18, 11 Webb 16, 12 Lee SAMPSON 14, 13 Sanz 14, 14 Cervantes 11, 15 Ibsen 9, 16 Emil Gyllenhammar 8, 17 Lalkens 6, 18 George MORTON 3, 19 Julien Arnaud 2, 20 James FRY 1.
FIM YOUTH TRIALS CHAMPS
Rd 3 Sequatchie, Tennessee, USA
DAY ONE
1 Patrick Smage (US - Sherco) (25x0) 5 + 1 + - = 6
2 Jack CHALLONER (GB - Beta) (24x0) 2 + 4 + - = 6
3 Alexandre Ferrer (F - Sherco) 7 + 10 + - = 17
4 Pau Botella (E - Gas Gas) 12 + 8 + - = 20
5 Benoit Dagnicourt (F - Beta) 12 + 10 + - = 22
6 Francesc Moret (E - Gas Gas) 19 + 5 + - = 24
7 Adrian Pastoriza (E - Gas Gas) 16 + 9 + - = 25
8 Jonathan RICHARDSON (GB - Sher) 18 + 15 + - = 33
9 Pere Borrellas (E - Gas Gas) 22 + 16 + - = 38
10 Jake Whitaker (NZ - HM) 34 + 20 + - = 54
11 Ron Como (US - Beta) 37 + 42 + - = 79
12 Josiah Mizell (US - Gas Gas) 56 + 50 + - = 106
13 Andrew Oldar (US - Sherco) 54 + 54 + - = 108
14 Alexander Bedley (US - Gas Gas) 57 + 57 + - = 114
15 Eric Storz (US - Sherco) 67 + 62 + - = 129
DAY TWO
1 Jack CHALLONER (GB - Beta) 11 + 8 + - = 19
2 Adrian Pastoriza (E - Gas Gas) 16 + 8 + - = 24
3 Patrick Smage (US - Sherco) 19 + 7 + - = 26
4 Benoit Dagnicourt (F - Beta) 22 + 27 + - = 49
5 Alexandre Ferrer (F - Sherco) 27 + 27 + - = 54
6 Francesc Moret (E - Gas Gas) 28 + 29 + - = 57
7 Pere Borrellas (E - Gas Gas) 34 + 24 + - = 58
8 Jonathan RICHARDSON (GB - Sher) 34 + 26 + - = 60
9 Pau Botella (E - Gas Gas) 41 + 25 + - = 66
10 Jake Whitaker (NZ - HM) 30 + 37 + - = 67
11 Ron Como (US - Beta) 52 + 58 + - = 110
12 Josiah Mizell (US - Gas Gas) 61 + 58 + - = 119
13 Andrew Oldar (US - Sherco) 71 + 62 + - = 133
14 Alexander Bedley (US - Gas Gas) 67 + 68 + - = 135
15 Eric Storz (US - Sherco) 75 + 71 + - = 146
SERIES STANDINGS: 1 CHALLONER 74 points, 2 Smage 67, 3 Moret 55, 4 Pastoriza 49, 5 Ferrer 45, 6 Botella 44, 7 Dagnicourt 41, 8 RICHARDSON 30, 9 Borrellas 27, 10 Whitaker 15, 11 Tanguy Mottin 10, 12 Como 10, 13 Francesc Ciurana 8, 14 Mizell 8, 15 Marc Horrach 7, 16 Maxime Warenghien 7, 17 Oldar 6, 18 Luca Cotone 4, 19 Adam JONES 4, 20 Bedley 4, 21 Jonathan WALKER 3, 22 Simone Staltari 3, 23 Storz 2, 24 Jack THOMPSON 1.
NEXT ROUND: May 31/ Jun 1 Twin-Ring Motegi, JAPAN.
For full report and pictures see T+MX NEWS, Friday, May 2, 2008