Raga triumphs in Barcelona
By TMX Archives on 3rd Feb 08
Gas Gas rider edges final victory ahead of Bou and Cabestany
Adam Raga was the winner of this afternoon's Barcelona Indoor Trial, thesecond round of the Indoor World Championship calendar, beating Toni Bou andAlbert Cabestany in a thrilling finale. The Gas Gas rider earned his first winof the year and triumphed in Barcelona for the first time in four seasons. Withsecond place, Bou maintains the lead of the overall standings, with a two pointadvantage over Raga and four over Cabestany.
This latest Barcelona Indoor Trial edition was a little different to that ofprevious years. Some of the zones were designed with a nod towards China andspecifically Beijing, the location of this year's Olympic Games. Never was thismore apparent than in the speed section, a smallscale version of the worldfamous Great Wall. Around 10,000 spectators were on hand to watch events unfoldat the Palau Sant Jordi, with the best riders in the world pitting their skillsagainst each other and the circuit considered the hardest on the calendar.
Jeroni Fajardo was the man given the task of opening the classification lapin Barcelona. The circuit consisted of eight zones, with a time limit of 11minutes. The Beta rider conceded fourth place to Takahisa Fujinami by a solitarypoint, after an untimely fiasco in the final timed section. As in Marseille atthe opening round, Fujinami was in sterling form, although some early errorsleft him just short of earning a ticket for the final three battle.
James Dabill was one of the more profligate riders early on, picking uppenalties in quick succession before concluding with a time excess. An evenworse fate befell countryman Dougie Lampkin in his second appearance as a Betarider, as the Englishman racked up four fiascos and committed an error in thehead-to-head that left him in last place.
Toni Bou had vastly contrasting fortunes to those of the British duo, with afantastic first lap. He made just a single mistake from the entireclassification session, blazing through the zones at breakneck speed. Thereigning World Champion never looked in danger of missing out on the final,something mimicked by fellow Spaniard Adam Raga whose sole blot on the scorecardwas a big error in the race section. Albert Cabestany, who suffered a fiasco inzone 4, was once again on form with the Sherco 3.2 four-stroke debuted threeweeks ago in France.
In the final round, Cabestany withdrew prematurely from the battle forvictory, with three fiascos from the first four zones. The early advantagebelonged to Bou, who further stamped his authority on the final with victory inthe two speed zones. However, zone 8 was the turning point for the trio inBarcelona, as Bou was given the maximum penalisation at precisely the wrong timeand conceded the lead to Raga. The Gas Gas rider didn't waste the opportunity totake his fifth win in the Palau de Sant Jordi, and Raga closed the race as thewinner by three points over Bou.
The Trial Indoor World Championship returns to Spain next week, this time inthe city of Granada. The Palacio de los Deportes will be hosting action from thethird round on February 10th.
Adam Raga: I am very happy with the result; I didn't stop fightinguntil the end. I was able to come back from the first lap problems, when Iwasn't at my best, and I had a great final ride which were deserving of thetriumph.
Toni Bou: It's a pity that I wasn't able to win here. Things weregoing well on lap one, but in the final I felt the pressure of Raga and madesome mistakes. Second place isn't too bad though.
Albert Cabestany: I can't be happy with today's result, because Iwasn't on form. I was expecting more, because the bike was working perfectly,but I didn't have a good ride.
Trial Indoor de Barcelona Round 2
Classification Lap
1. Toni Bou 1 penalty point
2. Adam Raga 7
3. Albert Cabestany 7
4. Takahisa Fujinami 16
5. Jeroni Fajardo 18
6. James Dabill 22
7. Dougie Lampkin 25
Final
1. Adam Raga 15 penalty points
2. Toni Bou 18
3. Albert Cabestany 32
Indoor Trial World Championship 2008
Provisional Classification
1. Toni Bou 18 points
2. Adam Raga 16
3. Albert Cabestany 14
4. Takahisa Fujinami 10
5. Jeroni Fajardo 8
6. James Dabill 6
7. Dougie Lampkin 4
8. Jerome Bethune 1