Mars star
By TMX Archives on 31st Jan 14
TONI Bou sailed to his 23rd successive World X-Trial victory as he took the win in the second round of the 2014 series staged in Marseille, France, on Saturday.
The Repsol Montesa ace romped through the Qualification and semi finals before overcoming a strong challenge from long-time Gas Gas rival Adam Raga in the four-man final, to take the 20 championship points.
This took Toni to a maximum 40 in the Championship, already 13 points ahead of nearest challenger, Sherco's Albert Cabestany who finished third on the night while Raga – who finished sixth in the opening round at Sheffield – eased into third in the title race.
It was a good night for Britain's James Dabill, who qualified for the final to finish fourth, just behind Cabestany after twice getting the better of his Beta factory
team-mate Jeroni Fajardo.
As in Sheffield, Marseille started with a 10-man field, the extra two being Sherco's Alexandre Ferrer and Gas Gas pilot Steven Coquelin as wildcards, just as Sheffield featured Michael Brown and Jack Challoner.
The new-for-2014 format of head-to-head contests in Qualifying and in the semis saw home rider, Ossa-mounted Loris Gubian up against Raga and the Gas Gas No.1 showed he was up for it on the night, inflicting a heavy defeat on his French rival.
Unusually for a French Indoor, while being typically technical and beautifully presented they were also quite brutal in nature and any mistake resulted pretty much in an instant five.
The Ferrer-Fujinami clash was a virtual replay as Takahisa stamped his authority on the match after both riders managed to five the opening hazard.
Next-up were the two Beta factory riders and Dibs gained his advantage in the first two sections, being the first to clean the opener, while Jeroni indulged in a dab before James then cleaned the second as well and Fajardo picked up a maximum.
Bestona in an exciting double-header with the World SuperEnduro series.
FOR FULL REPORT AND PICTURES SEE TMX JANUARY 31
WORLD X-TRIAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Rd 2 – Palais des Sports, Marseilles, FRANCE
FINAL (4 sects + Lane Races): 1 Toni Bou (E - Montesa) 4 marks, 2 Adam Raga (E - Gas Gas) 6, 3 Albert Cabestany (E - Sherco) 11, 4 James DABILL (GB - Beta) 12.
SEMI-FINAL (4 sects + Lane Race): 1 Toni Bou (E - Montesa) 1, 2 Adam Raga (E - Sherco) 5, 3 Albert Cabestany (E - Gas Gas) 11, 4 James DABILL (GB - Beta) 11.
ELIMINATED: 5 Jeroni Fajardo (E - Beta) 15, 6 Takahisa Fujinami (J - Montesa) 16.
QUALIFICATION (7 sects): 1 Toni Bou (E - Montesa) 5, 2 Adam Raga (E - Gas Gas) 11, 3 James DABILL (GB - Beta) 15, 4 Albert Cabestany (E - Sherco) 15, 5 Takahisa Fujinami (J - Montesa) 19, 6 Jeroni Fajardo (E - Beta) 21.
ELIMINATED: 7 Jorge Casales (E - Gas Gas) 26, 8 Steven Coquelin (F - Gas Gas) 28, 9 Loris Gubian (F - Ossa) 29, 10 Alexandre Ferrer (F - Sherco) 31.
SERIES STANDINGS: 1 Bou 40 points, 2 Cabestany 27, 3 Raga 21, 4 Fajardo 18, 5 DABILL 14, 6 Fujinami 14, 7 Gubian 6, 8 Cabestany 7, 9 BROWN 2, 10 CHALLONER 1, 11 Coquelin 3, 12 Ferrer 1.
NEXT ROUND: February 15 – Palau Sant Jordi, Barcelona, SPAIN.
