It's Swiss Toni

Once again Bou was in unstoppable form and ran out an easy winner, as his rivals scrapped it out for the remaining podium places.

 

Albert Cabestany (Sherco) eventually took the runner-up spot after defeating Takahis a Fujinami (Repsol Montesa) in a final-section showdown.

 

Spain's Adam Raga (Gas Gas) was a disappointing fourth on this occasion after having headed Bou in the qualification stage. 

 

During the pre-event press conference Raga explained how important it was to put Bou under pressure.

 

And that is exactly what the Gas Gas teamster did, as he went clean during qualification to head the 

series-leader by a single mark.

 

Bou had looked in devastating form once again until a rare mistake in the ‘Water and Rock' section spoilt his otherwise faultless tour.

 

Jeroni Fajardo (Beta) was the next best on a total of five marks as he failed the slabs, where only Raga and the two Repsol Honda team-mates Bou and Fujinami, went clean.

 

Cabestany beat his Japanese rival in the tie-break to qualify in fourth spot, as both of the more experienced riders kept the younger Loris Gubian (Gas Gas) at bay, with the French protagonist finishing in sixth to claim the last place in the semi-final.

 

Britain's Michael Brown (Gas Gas) made his evening slightly better as he defeated compatriot Jack Challoner (Beta) in their tie-break decider to take the points for seventh spot.

 

Spain's Alfredo Gomez (Montesa) and Benoit Dagnicourt (Beta) rounded out the qualifying results in ninth and tenth position respectively.

 

For the second week in a row French section designer, Bernard Estripeau, was again responsible for creating a course to test this elite gathering of trials riders and that proved the case in the very first hazard of the semi-final.

 

Bou once again was superb and exercised his superiority as he passed through the almost impossible concrete slabs for a single dab, while the rest of the field were all stopped in their tracks.

 

After a relatively easy passage through the log section, all the competitors then failed as they attempted the pallet steps in the reverse direction.

 

Fajardo and Gubian were cruelly eliminated at this point when just two marks separated all but pace-setter Bou.

 

The Toni Bou show immediately resumed in the final, as he became the only rider to conquer the man-made mountain and in doing so he stretched his advantage by another five marks.

 

His winning margin eventually grew to 13 come the finish.

 

 

FINAL (3 sects + Semi + Lane Races): 1 Toni Bou (E - Montesa) 0 + 6 + 0 = 6 marks, 2 Albert Cabestany (E - Sherco) 6 + 10 + 3 = 19, 3 Takahisa Fujinami (J - Montesa) 7 + 11 + 1 = 19, 4 Adam Raga (E - Gas Gas) 10 + 11 + 2 = 23.

SEMI-FINAL (4 sects + Lane Race): 1 Toni Bou (E - Montesa) 6, 2 Albert Cabestany (E - Sherco) 10, 3 Adam Raga (E - Gas Gas) 11, 4 Takahisa Fujinami (J - Montesa) 11.

ELIMINATED: 5 Loris Gubian (F - Gas Gas) 11, 6 Jeroni Fajardo (E - Beta) 12.

QUALIFICATION (5 sects): 1 Adam Raga (E - Gas Gas) clean, 2 Toni Bou (E - Montesa) 1, 3 Jeroni Fajardo (E - Beta) 5, 4 Albert Cabestany (E - Sherco) 6, 5 Takahisa Fujinami (J - Montesa) 6, 6 Loris Gubian (F - Gas Gas) 11.

ELIMINATED: 7 Michael BROWN (GB - Gas Gas) 16, 8 Jack CHALLONER (GB - Beta) 16, 9 Alfredo Gomez (E - Montesa) 21, 10 Benoit Dagnicourt (F - Beta) 23. 

SERIES STANDINGS: 1 Toni Bou 40 points, 2 Albert Cabestany 27, 3 Adam Raga 24, 4 Takahisa Fujinami 21, 5 Loris Gubian 11, 6 Jeroni Fajardo 11, 7 Michael BROWN 6, 8 Alfredo Gomez 3, 9 Jack CHALLONER 2, 10 Benoit Dagnicourt 1.

NEXT ROUND: January 26/27 – Palais des Sports, Marseilles, FRANCE.Geneva, Switzerland – the home city of the FIM – was the venue for round two of the FIM World X-Trial Championship, where Toni Bou (Repsol Montesa) claimed his second successive victory.

 

Once again Bou was in unstoppable form and ran out an easy winner, as his rivals scrapped it out for the remaining podium places.

 

Albert Cabestany (Sherco) eventually took the runner-up spot after defeating Takahis a Fujinami (Repsol Montesa) in a final-section showdown.

 

Spain's Adam Raga (Gas Gas) was a disappointing fourth on this occasion after having headed Bou in the qualification stage. 

 

During the pre-event press conference Raga explained how important it was to put Bou under pressure.

 

And that is exactly what the Gas Gas teamster did, as he went clean during qualification to head the 

series-leader by a single mark.

 

Bou had looked in devastating form once again until a rare mistake in the ‘Water and Rock' section spoilt his otherwise faultless tour.

 

Jeroni Fajardo (Beta) was the next best on a total of five marks as he failed the slabs, where only Raga and the two Repsol Honda team-mates Bou and Fujinami, went clean.

 

Cabestany beat his Japanese rival in the tie-break to qualify in fourth spot, as both of the more experienced riders kept the younger Loris Gubian (Gas Gas) at bay, with the French protagonist finishing in sixth to claim the last place in the semi-final.

 

Britain's Michael Brown (Gas Gas) made his evening slightly better as he defeated compatriot Jack Challoner (Beta) in their tie-break decider to take the points for seventh spot.

 

Spain's Alfredo Gomez (Montesa) and Benoit Dagnicourt (Beta) rounded out the qualifying results in ninth and tenth position respectively.

 

For the second week in a row French section designer, Bernard Estripeau, was again responsible for creating a course to test this elite gathering of trials riders and that proved the case in the very first hazard of the semi-final.

 

Bou once again was superb and exercised his superiority as he passed through the almost impossible concrete slabs for a single dab, while the rest of the field were all stopped in their tracks.

 

After a relatively easy passage through the log section, all the competitors then failed as they attempted the pallet steps in the reverse direction.

 

Fajardo and Gubian were cruelly eliminated at this point when just two marks separated all but pace-setter Bou.

 

The Toni Bou show immediately resumed in the final, as he became the only rider to conquer the man-made mountain and in doing so he stretched his advantage by another five marks.

 

His winning margin eventually grew to 13 come the finish.

 

FOR FULL REPOT AND PICTURES SEE T+MX JANUARY 27

 

WORLD X-TRIAL CHAMPIONSHIP

Rd 2 – Geneva Arena, Geneva, SWITZERLAND

FINAL (3 sects + Semi + Lane Races): 1 Toni Bou (E - Montesa) 0 + 6 + 0 = 6 marks, 2 Albert Cabestany (E - Sherco) 6 + 10 + 3 = 19, 3 Takahisa Fujinami (J - Montesa) 7 + 11 + 1 = 19, 4 Adam Raga (E - Gas Gas) 10 + 11 + 2 = 23.

SEMI-FINAL (4 sects + Lane Race): 1 Toni Bou (E - Montesa) 6, 2 Albert Cabestany (E - Sherco) 10, 3 Adam Raga (E - Gas Gas) 11, 4 Takahisa Fujinami (J - Montesa) 11.

ELIMINATED: 5 Loris Gubian (F - Gas Gas) 11, 6 Jeroni Fajardo (E - Beta) 12.

QUALIFICATION (5 sects): 1 Adam Raga (E - Gas Gas) clean, 2 Toni Bou (E - Montesa) 1, 3 Jeroni Fajardo (E - Beta) 5, 4 Albert Cabestany (E - Sherco) 6, 5 Takahisa Fujinami (J - Montesa) 6, 6 Loris Gubian (F - Gas Gas) 11.

ELIMINATED: 7 Michael BROWN (GB - Gas Gas) 16, 8 Jack CHALLONER (GB - Beta) 16, 9 Alfredo Gomez (E - Montesa) 21, 10 Benoit Dagnicourt (F - Beta) 23. 

SERIES STANDINGS: 1 Toni Bou 40 points, 2 Albert Cabestany 27, 3 Adam Raga 24, 4 Takahisa Fujinami 21, 5 Loris Gubian 11, 6 Jeroni Fajardo 11, 7 Michael BROWN 6, 8 Alfredo Gomez 3, 9 Jack CHALLONER 2, 10 Benoit Dagnicourt 1.

NEXT ROUND: January 26/27 – Palais des Sports, Marseilles, FRANCE.