Madrid ready for the penultimate showdown
By TMX Archives on 11th Mar 10
Reigning champion Toni Bou - Repsol Montesa will be looking to consolidate his five-point lead over countryman and closest rival Albert Cabestany - Sherco in the 2010 SPEA FIM Indoor Trial World Championship as the series heads to Madrid for its penultimate round this weekend.
As the circus lands in the Spanish capital on Saturday evening all eyes will be on the showdown between the country's top two performers, the irrepressible Bou and the rejuvenated Cabestany. Bou's cool head, technical ability, previous experience and unshakable confidence means he is the favourite to take overall honours. However, he would be a fool to dismiss the challenge laid down by round two victor Cabestany, who has put his composure and silky skills to good effect this year and looks likely to take the series to the wire.
While the Spanish fans' attention will undoubtedly centre on the two title contenders, their focus will also be shifted onto the seemingly out-of-sorts Adam Raga - Gas Gas. The Catalan, whose performances this year have been below par given his usual high standards, will be hoping to get his season back on track when the action kicks off inside the cosmopolitan city's atmospheric Palacio de Deportes de la Comunidad de Madrid stadium.
It would be all too easy to concentrate solely on Raga and the leading Spanish duo, but one rider whose results this season deserve recognition is twenty-three-year-old James Dabill - Gas Gas. The current British outdoor trials champion is lying third in the standings and is improving at every round as his skill, composure and confidence grows.
Another rider to look out for in Madrid is wildcard Alfredo Gomez - Montesa, who is making his first appearance in the series this year and will want to make an impression on the World's elite. Likewise Takahisa Fujinami - Repsol Montesa, who made the final at round three in Barcelona, but has yet to make the podium in 2010.
A year ago Madrid played host to the championship's final round and it was Bou, who had already wrapped up his third consecutive indoor crown, that raised the roof. Toni signed off with a superb win, which confirmed his superiority over Cabestany who was runner up on the night, with Bou being in vintage form en route to the fourth victory of his 2009 campaign.
Raga, meanwhile, was still in with a shot of finishing second overall in the series right up until the final hazard in Madrid last year. However, nerves got the better of him and he failed critically in the last section, thus allowing Cabestany to pounce. The mistake saw Raga relegated to third in the season standings behind the Sherco teamster.
This year's event is sure to be even more exciting as Bou and Cabestany lock horns and stake their claims for the title, while Dabill will attempt to fend off all-comers, most notably his team-mate Raga, in a desperate bid to protect his podium position in the series.