Bou looks to continue domination
By TMX Archives on 11th Jan 12
Twenty-five-year-old Toni Bou (Repsol Montesa) will arrive in the French city of Strasbourg on Friday (January 13) intent on continuing his total domination of the modern era of the trials discipline.
The relatively young Spanish rider, who hails from the Catalan capital of Barcelona, is set to re-write the record books having already won the last five editions of the now FIM X-Trial World Championship, formerly known as the FIM World Indoor Trials Championship.
Bou has simply been unstoppable since joining the mighty Repsol squad back in 2007, despite some predicting that his move to the four-stroke machine might hinder his progress. This did not prove to be the case and over the last five years Toni has netted no less than ten FIM titles, having also added five more traditional outdoor FIM World Trials Championships to his indoor successes.
Having now equalled Dougie Lampkin's tally of five FIM Indoor Trials titles, Bou looks odds-on favourite to go one better by the time the 2012 campaign comes to a close in Paris at the end of March.
While many may have already mentally put Bou's name on the gold medal, he will have to fight off some familiar rivals, who will have have spent the months during the off-season looking to close the gap on the current 'King of Trials'.
FIM World Indoor Trial Champion in 2002, 31-year-old Albert Cabestany (Sherco) leads the challengers, having chased Bou home during last year's X-Trial series. Cabestany secured the runners-up spot in the 2011 title chase after a dramatic last round showdown against compatriot Adam Raga (Gas Gas).
On paper Raga should be the rider who pushes Bou the most, with the now 29-year-old, having won the FIM World Indoor Trial Championship on four successive occasions just before Toni took over at the top of the rankings.
Although no one can doubt Adam's pure skill and technique on the indoor hazards, it is often inconsistency that is his downfall. This is sure to be something he has been addressing now that he has Lampkin in his corner as Gas Gas team manager.
Jeroni Fajardo (now back on Beta) and Takahisa Fujinami (Repsol Montesa) are two other riders who have the pedigree and experience to be visitors to the podium during the seven round tour, though both will need to be at the top of their game if they are to unseat the more favoured Spanish trio of Bou, Cabestany and Raga.
Fajardo had to wait until the fourth round in Geneva during the 2011 campaign to gain a top-three placing. This result was only upstaged by his runners-up finish at the final event in Milan, to set him up perfectly for a potentially stronger start to this season.
2011 WORLD X-TRIAL SERIES SCHEDULE
January 13 – Strasbourg, FRANCE
January 21 – Geneva Arena, Geneva, SWITZERLAND
January 27 – Palais des Sports, Marseilles, FRANCE
March 3 – Palacio de Deportes, Madrid, SPAIN
March 10 – Palma de Mallorca, SPAIN
March 17 – Fila Forum, Milan, ITALY
March 23 – venue tba, TBA
March 31 – Paris Bercy, Paris, FRANCE
