Raga's French Lesson
By TMX Archives on 30th Jul 14
ADAM Raga kept the pressure on arch title rival Toni Bou as the Gas Gas rider took maximum points by the narrowest of margins in the French round of the 2014 World Trials Championship,staged in the winter ski resort of La Mongie in the Pyrenees.
Raga and his Repsol Montesa-mounted adversary Bou both dropped a mere two marks apiece, both in single dabs and couldn't be separated on the WTC observation tie-break method so it was down to who completed the course in the fastest time.
And as Raga was quicker than his rival to the tune of three minutes and 18 seconds the 20 points were his, which reduced the gap in the Championship points to just seven – with the two-day round in Spain in September now set to be a real grand finale!
The massive boulder field at altitude – La Mongie is almost 6,000 feet (1,800 metres) above sea level – with the rocks in dry, grippy condition, was quite a contrast to the sandstone quarry sections at Nord Vue, scene of the recent British round.
And they rode much easier than they looked, as long as massive steps are your thing and your bike had the urge to conquer them.
It was home from home for the Catalan contingent who filled the first five places in the finishing order, Bou, Raga, Jeroni Fajarado, Albert Cabestany and Jorge Casales – the first six if you count Fuji who has been a Barcelona resident now for some 20 years – and Pol Tarres in eighth made for a whitewash.
Bou was far from happy with what he considered to be over-easy sections and made his feelings known.
Not everyone would agree with him though.
The interlopers were Frenchman Alexandre Ferrer in seventh, Italian Grattarola ninth and a despondent James Dabill Languishing in tenth.
James complained of a lack of power at altitude and his three laps were very consistent, losing virtually all of his marks in the same sections, with maximums on the fourth and sixth each lap.
In contrast Italian Grattarola underwent a swift learning curve, slashing his lap scores from a massive first-lap 40 to 14 and finally 11 for his ninth place finish.
There wasn't much joy for the remaining three Brits with fives doing the damage as Alexz Wigg claimed 11th, more than 20 marks ahead of Michael Brown, separated by Loris Gubian.
Jack Sheppard followed Michael home ahead of the likeable and talented young Swede Eddie Karlsson, who unfortunately is undergoing a crisis of confidence.
In the World Cup there was very low scoring, with the first six riders losing single-figure scores for their three laps of 12 sections invoking an effective war of nerves.
The end result was a surprise winner in the shape of Spaniard Arnau Ferrer.
Gas Gas rider Ferrer had previously only managed two lower order finishes before his shock win in France, pipping series leader Jaime Busto by a single mark, the decider being five marks against six on the opening circuit as both.
The big news for Britain was that Yorkie Jack Price burst into the top three for the first time. Jack has had an up and down experience since entering the World Cup contest, including a no-score on the opening day in Britain.
He followed this up with a much better show on day two and the Gas Gas rider is now showing his real potential.
And it could have been the second step of the podium as he only lost out to the much-acclaimed Busto on a tie-break.
The unpredictable Billy Bolt suffered an unfortunate five on his opening lap which cost him nine in total but brought this down to seven, then just a single on his final circuit which gave the Ossa rider ninth place on a total of 17.
Andy Chilton bagged two points for 14th but sadly there were no points this week for series regular and fellow Beta pilot Dec Bullock.
Busto extended his lead in the series to 14 points over German Franz Kadlec, who could only manage fifth, having missed out on fourth on most cleans to French ace Quentin Carles de Caudembourg.
the 125 title at the British round the young Frenchman moved up to World Cup on Sunday (finishing 17th) meaning that there would be a new winner in France.
Having finished second three times in three outings Thomas Minta was looking to fill that top spot but it wasn't to be, as home rider Teo Colairo filled Chatagno's shoes and not only took the win but guaranteed himself second overall in the series.
Thomas actually led on the opening lap with a superb lone clean effort but back-to-back fives in sections three and four and another max on the fourth on his final loop were the Sherco rider's undoing, as he lost out to Colairo by just two marks.
He did, though, end well clear of third finisher Noe Pretalli, who also guaranteed himself third in the series.
Having only contested five days' competition out of 11 held so far Minta has hoisted himself into fifth place in the series although a long way shy of fourth placed German Timmy Hippel.
