Rampant Raga ends on a high
By Team TMX on 16th Sep 15
THERE was a full weekend of World Championship trials action at Teo, in Galicia, north west Spain as both the men and women were in action on both days.Heavy overnight rain made the rocky hillside venue considerably more slippery than many contestants would have liked on the opening day.
The weekend got underway on Saturday in warm but overcast conditions and in both contests there was a clear-cut winner head and shoulders above the rest – Emma Bristow and Adam Raga.
The World Cup has been so cut and thrust all year that no one rider was ever going to get away and that's just how it worked out...
Sunday was always going to have to sort out the Men's World Cup and maybe the Women's crown as well and the fantastic news was that Emma Bristow secured her second consecutive Women's World title.
Sadly Iwan Roberts was unable to make it a double, as a disappointing fifth-place finish on the day for the 19-year-old Welsh Champion consigned him to third in the series, just four points short of newly crowned 2015 champ Quentin Carles de Caudemberg.
The second day's competition also followed heavy overnight rain which made the sections even more slippery and several of the hazards were tweaked in deference to the changed conditions.
This event marked the final two rounds of the men's World Trials Championship.
And with Toni Bou already having been crowned Champion for the ninth successive year and Adam Raga in an equally secure second place you would be excused for expecting a non-event.
No-one told Adam this though and almost as a precursor to unveiling what his plans are for next year Raga went out on Saturday and destroyed the opposition.
He then did it again on Sunday for good measure to end his season on a fantastic winning double.
Clearly Adam was putting himself out there, showing any prospective personal sponsors just what the World Champ of 2005/06 is still capable of.
Adam's three laps on Saturday were all in single figures for an incredible total of just 12 marks which gave him the almost unbelieveable advantage of 17 marks over arch rival Bou.
Toni was suspected of suffering from clutch trouble on the Repsol Montesa and his lap scores were certainly erratic with a single dab second circuit of the 12-section course sandwiched in between laps of 17 and 11.
As has become almost disturbingly the norm as this season has progressed the first five riders home were Spanish.
Veteran Albert Cabestany was a clear third ahead of the improving Jorge Casales – who is getting back to his true form after recovering from the foot injury that kept him out for much of the season – and a disappointing Jeroni Fajardo.
With Takahisa Fujinami still suffering from a back injury sustained in a training incident it was hard-working Frenchman Alexandre Ferrer who was first non-Spaniard home – and one maximum less could have seen the tall Sherco rider as high as fourth.
After a run of disappointing results there was a good solid top 10 for James Dabill as he finished seventh on the Vertigo with improving laps after an expensive 30-mark opener.
Not having such a good day was Repsol Montesa apprentice Jaime Busto who didn't find the slippery conditions to his liking and was complaining of an upset stomach.
But it is all experience for the rider being groomed to ultimately take over from Bou.
Pol Tarres and a clearly off-song Fuji, who jarred his injured back in the opening section, completed the top 10 with Jotagas rider Jack Sheppard taking points in 13th.
Sunday saw Adam Raga end his Championship year with yet another victory over Toni Bou after a super-tight couple of opening loops, when the two protaganists were locked on just two marks apiece.
A couple of quick fives for Bou on the final circuit gave Raga his dream weekend.
Jeroni Fajardo did enough to defend his third place in the series with a steady third on the day ahead of Albert Cabestany who finished fourth in the series.
And while the Spaniards filled the first five places on the opening day they went one better on Sunday with Jaime Busto following Casales home.
Fujinami was first non- Spanish rider home (although even Fuji is a Barcelona resident!) and in his 20th year in the World Championship Fujigas ended his campaign fifth overall.
Frenchman Ferrer finished eighth on the day and a fighting seventh in the series ahead of Dabill, who could only manage 11th on the factory development Vertigo and eighth in the Championship.
Britain's only other full-time World Championship challenger Sheppard took a final point in 15th for 13th overall.
