Report: World Trials Championship - Final Round, Italy
By John Dickinson on 7th Sep 16
TONI Bou absolutely destroyed all opposition on the opening day of the two day final round of the FIM Trial World Championships at Chiampo, Italy, to ensure an incredible record extending tenth consecutive World Trial crown on the factory Repsol Montesa.
Adam Raga on the works TRS still had a mathematical chance of overhauling his fellow Catalan, should some kind of disaster strike, but Bou spiked that slim chance with one of his most devastating displays of riding ever!
The trial, using the usual format of three laps of twelve sections, was run in searing heat with the opening sub set in the town for the locals to get involved in and then an eight kilometre trek out to the main group of eleven sections.
Bou defied the difficulty factor to record laps of 5-2-5 and a total of just 13 marks to make an absolute mockery of the severity of the course as, in comparison in finishing runner-up, Raga could only manage losses of 20-18-18 for a total of 56 – and easily beat the remainder of the Championship class contenders on every lap.
Third placed Jeroni Fajardo on the Vertigo was another 30 marks astern of Raga ahead of Sherco's Albert Cabestany, Repsol Montesa's teenager Jaime Busto and Japanese veteran Takahisa Fujinami on the third Repsol machine while seventh placed Jorge Casales on the factory Beta bust three figures dropping a mighty 100 marks in total.
Britain's lone contender, British Champ James Dabill on the second factory Vertigo posted his worst result of the campaign in tenth place on a massive 122 marks, never getting to grips with the conditions and dropping more and more marks each lap.
On the second day, with job done and that tenth World Championship in his pocket, Bou naturally dropped the level of intensity, yet still took a clear victory, his twelfth from the fifteen scoring days competition in 2016, having only been beaten three times, in the opening day of the series in Spain by Cabestany, by Raga in Japan and by veteran Fujinami in France. And his worst finish of the year was third in France behind Fujigas and Raga...
Raga was already assured of retaining his vice-championship after what was a super campaign in his first year on the all new TRS but third place overall was still up for grabs with Fujinami hanging in there struggling with a wrist injury.
The 36 year-old veteran, 37 in January, ignored the pain though and performed for the large Italian crowd in true Fujigas style to take fifth on the final day and held on to his third overall placing. It has been a great season for Fuji, resident in Barcelona for many years, and another year on the World circuit looks a certainty now surely!
Fajardo finished the season strongly with a pair of third places and in doing so leap-frogged young Busto to take fifth place in the Championship behind Sherco's veteran Albert Cabestany who claimed a brace of fourth places in Italy. You can't keep these old stagers down!
The home crowd were able to cheer Matteo Grattarola on Sunday as he took sixth place, matching his season's best in Japan, and the Gas Gas rider claimed ninth overall in the series.
The Dibsta may have finished with his two worst finishes of the season, twice tenth, but he still finished the Championship in seventh place, over 50 points clear of next man Jorge Casales.
Spanish youngster Miquel Gelabert, in his first season in the Championship class, will wear the #10 bib in 2017 after a promising debut year.
Trial2
ALTHOUGH Britain's Jack Price had already won the Trial2 crown it was going on behind the GasGasUK rider for the runner-up and third places in the series with TTT Beta mounted Welsh Champ Iwan Roberts loking to hold off Scarborough's Dan Peace and Spaniard Arnau Farre, both Gas Gas mounted.
Although Roberts had the edge on paper it was actually all up in the air until the final day's competition as with each rider having to discard their two worst scores from the 15 scoring rounds.
In the end Roberts took the vice-championship comfortably with fourth and third placing in Italy while Dan Peace made it a fantastic British 1-2-3 in Trial2 showing what strength in depth there is in British trials at the moment.
Dan took the opening day's victory in Italy thanks to winning a three way tie for the win as Farre and French Sherco challenger Gael Chatagno joined him on 35 marks lost. They finished in that order thanks to most cleans of 23, 21 and 18 respectively. It was Dan's second consecutive win following victory on the second day at Tong in the British round and his third in total having earlier taken day two in Japan.
Toby Martyn claimed a top 10 finish in ninth on Saturday, Dec Bullock 14th while 2016 Trial125 Champion Jack Peace bagged a single point for 15th in his first Trial2 outing having swapped his 125 Gas Gas for a 250 version.
Sunday saw the Italian fans with something to really cheer about as home rider Luca Petrella followed up a first day fifth place finish with a stunning victory on the TRS. Petrella was in a class of his own losing just 14 marks, almost half the marks of runner-up Jack Price who was back on form following his first day's shock no-score ride.
Iwan Roberts assured himself of the vice championship with third coming out best of yet another tie break, there were plenty over the weekend, with Chatagno. In fact there was one right behind them as Dan Peace just edged Farre down to sixth, the pair of them a full five marks in front of sixth finishing Pietro Petrangeli.
Toby Martyn took tenth, Dec Bullock scored yet more points in twelfth while Jack Peace gained a position over Saturday to net two points as he readies himself for a full season of Trial2 in 2017.
What a season for the British lads though with a stunning one-two-three in the Championship for Jack, Iwan and Dan.
Trial125
WITH both 2016 Champ and runner-up, Britain's Jack Peace and German Max Faude, having moved up to have taste of Trial2 competition the small Trial125 class was wide open and stepping up to the mark was home rider, Scorpa's Lorenzo Gandolo who took a pair of convincing victories.
Gandolo was followed on both days by his countryman Mirko Spreafico on the Gas Gas with Spain's Eric Miquel third for Sherco. Miquel took third in the Championship but a long way back from Peace and Faude.
Britain's lone contender Jake Eley stuck to his task to finish eleventh on both days and 16th in the series.
WORLD TRIALS CHAMPIONSHIP
Rd 8 – Valchiampo, Vicenza, ITALY
DAY ONE
1 Toni Bou (E - Montesa) 5 + 2 + 5 + 1 = 13
2 Adam Raga (E - TRS) 20 + 18 + 18 + - = 56
3 Jeroni Fajardo (E - Vertigo) 21 + 39 + 22 + 4 = 86
4 Albert Cabestany (E - Sherco) 28 + 28 + 33 + - = 89
5 Jaime Busto (E - Montesa) 41 + 33 + 15 + 2 = 91
6 Takahisa Fujinami (J - Montesa) 30 + 38 + 29 + - = 97
7 Jorge Casales (E - Beta) 28 + 34 + 38 + - = 100
8 Matteo Grattarola (I - Gas Gas) 35 + 40 + 37 + - = 112
9 Miquel Gelabert (E - Sherco) 45 + 29 + 39 + - = 113
10 James DABILL (GB - Vertigo) 35 + 41 + 46 + - = 122
11 Benoit Bincaz (F - Scorpa) 42 + 36 + 37 + 10 = 125
12 Alexandre Ferrer (F - Sherco) 43 + 43 + 40 + - = 126
13 Oriol Noguera (E - Montesa) 49 + 35 + 35 + - = 119
14 Franz Kadlec (D - Beta) 46 + 44 + 52 + 5 = 147
15 Eddie Karlsson (S - Montesa) 49 + 50 + 49 + - = 148
DAY TWO
1 Toni Bou (E - Montesa) 15 + 8 + 13 = 36
2 Adam Raga (E - TRS) 16 + 18 + 16 = 50
3 Takahisa Fujinami (J - Montesa) 23 + 13 + 19 = 55
4 Albert Cabestany (E - Sherco) 28 + 17 + 12 = 57
5 Matteo Grattarola (I - Gas Gas) 25 + 22 + 20 = 67
6 Jeroni Fajardo (E - Vertigo) 31 + 23 + 27 = 81
7 Jaime Busto (E - Montesa) 40 + 24 + 21 = 85
8 Jorge Casales (E - Beta) 33 + 31 + 28 = 92
9 Miquel Gelabert (E - Sherco) 39 + 24 + 32 = 95
10 James DABILL (GB - Vertigo) 30 + 36 + 33 = 99
11 Franz Kadlec (D - Beta) 42 + 36 + 27 = 105
12 Alexandre Ferrer (F - Sherco) 35 + 26 + 47 = 108
13 Oriol Noguera (E - Montesa) 40 + 44 + 41 = 125
14 Gianluca Tournour (I - Gas Gas) (8x0) 48 + 38 + 41 = 127
15 Eddie Karlsson (S - Montesa) (4x0) 40 + 46 + 41 = 127
FINAL SERIES STANDINGS after 8 rounds: 1 Toni Bou 289 points, 2 Adam Raga 252, 3 Takahisa Fujinami 190, 4 Cabestany 181, 5 Fajardo 173, 6 Busto 168, 7 DABILL 145, 8 Casales 93, 9 Grattarola 85, 10 Gelabert 74, 11 Kadlec 72, 12 Karlsson 61, 13 Ferrer 47, 14 Gubian 38, 15 Noguera 32, 16 Tarres 28, 17 Ogawa 14, 18 Kuroyama 10, 19 Bincaz 5, 20 Nozaki 5, 21 Tournour 2, 22 Casales 1.
FIM 125cc TRIALS CUP
Rd 8 – Valchiampo, Vicenza, ITALY
DAY ONE
1 Lorenzo Gandola (I - Scorpa) 7 + 17 + 10 = 34
2 Mirko Speafico (I - Gas Gas) 14 + 8 + 27 = 49
3 Eric Miquel (E - Beta) 22 + 24 + 12 = 58
4 Kieran Touly (F - Sherco) 25 + 18 + 18 = 61
5 Connor Hogan (AUS - Sherco) 21 + 21 + 28 = 70
6 Carloalberto Rabino (I - Beta) 22 + 30 + 26 = 78
7 Mikkel Brade (DK - Beta) 26 + 30 + 29 = 85
8 Christopher Wengler (D - Ossa) 30 + 32 + 31 = 93
9 Julius Ilmberger (D - Beta) 38 + 30 + 37 = 105
10 Gerard Trueba (E - Beta) 41 + 45 + 47 = 133
11 Jake ELEY (GB - Beta) 51 + 54 + 54 = 159
DAY TWO
1 Lorenzo Gandola (I - Scorpa) 5 + 12 + 3 = 20
2 Mirko Speafico (I - Gas Gas) 9 + 8 + 7 = 24
3 Eric Miquel (E - Beta) 10 + 15 + 11 = 36
4 Kieran Touly (F - Sherco) 14 + 14 + 16 = 44
5 Carloalberto Rabino (I - Beta) 25 + 17 + 15 = 57
6 Mikkel Brade (DK - Beta) 27 + 13 + 19 = 59
7 Connor Hogan (AUS - Sherco) 18 + 21 + 21 = 60
8 Christopher Wengler (D - Ossa) 26 + 33 + 24 = 83
9 Julius Ilmberger (D - Beta) 37 + 28 + 31 = 96
10 Gerard Trueba (E - Beta) 41 + 47 + 36 = 124
11 Jake ELEY (GB - Beta) 49 + 47 + 48 = 144
FINAL SERIES STANDINGS after 8 rounds: 1 Jack PEACE 251 points, 2 Max Faude 216, 3 Mikkel Brade 132, 4 Hogan 126, 5 Wengler 125, 6 Miquel 122, 7 Mehu 110, 8 Touly 67, 9 Widmann 52, 10 Trueba 44, 11 Gandola 40, 12 Robrahn 40, 13 Ilmberger 36, 14 Speafico 34, 15 Billy GREEN 32, 16 Yamazaki 30, 17 Jake ELEY 29, 18 Keiran CHILD 23, 19 Rabino 21, 20 Thomas CULLIFORD 20,... 21 Oliver SMITH 20,... 23 Joe DAWSON 17,... 27 Toby CHURCHILL 9,... 28 Josh HANLON 8,... 31 Kieran TOVEY 2,...
FIM Trials World Cup
Rd 8 – Valchiampo, Vicenza, ITALY
DAY ONE
1 Dan PEACE (GB - Gas Gas) (23x0) 20 + 6 + 9 + - = 35
2 Arnau Farre (E - Gas Gas) (21x0) 8 + 17 + 10 + - = 35
3 Gael Chatagno (F - Sherco) (18x0) 11 + 18 + 6 + - = 35
4 Iwan ROBERTS (GB - Beta) 14 + 9 + 20 + 1 = 44
5 Luca Petrella (I - TRS) 23 + 15 + 14 + - = 52
6 Teo Colairo (F - Beta) 25 + 19 + 10 + - = 54
7 Pietro Fioletti (I - Beta) 18 + 16 + 24 + 10 = 68
8 Gabriel Marcelli (S - Honda) 30 + 12 + 29 + 2 = 73
9 Toby MARTIN (GB - Beta) 33 + 15 + 17 + 5 = 70
10 Marc Riba (E - Beta) 15 + 23 + 36 + - = 74
11 Pietro Petrangeli (I - Beta) 25 + 13 + 35 + - = 73
12 Pierre Sauvage (F - Sherco) 28 + 26 + 26 + 1 = 81
13 Kyle Middleton (AUS - Gas Gas) 32 + 18 + 33 + - = 83
14 Declan BULLOCK (GB - Beta) 29 + 27 + 33 + - = 89
15 Jack Peace (GB - Gas Gas) 39 + 25 + 26 + - = 90
DAY TWO
1 Luca Petrella (I - TRS) 5 + 2 + 7 = 14
2 Jack PRICE (GB - Gas Gas) 9 + 13 + 4 = 26
3 Iwan ROBERTS (GB - Beta) (26x0) 12 + 10 + 6 = 28
4 Gael Chatagno (F - Sherco) (22x0) 9 + 9 + 10 = 28
5 Dan PEACE (GB - Gas Gas) (22x0) 9 + 19 + 3 = 31
6 Arnau Farre (E - Gas Gas) (21x0) 4 + 17 + 10 = 31
7 Pietro Petrangeli (I - Beta) 11 + 16 + 9 = 36
8 Marc Riba (E - Beta) 17 + 17 + 9 = 43
9 Teo Colairo (F - Beta) 13 + 18 + 13 = 44
10 Toby MARTIN (GB - Beta) 14 + 20 + 13 = 47
11 Pierre Sauvage (F - Sherco) 25 + 13 + 17 = 55
12 Declan BULLOCK (GB - Beta) 23 + 18 + 18 = 59
13 Francisco Xompero (I - Beta) 24 + 22 + 22 = 68
14 Jack Peace (GB - Gas Gas) 24 + 17 + 28 = 69
15 Gabriel Marcelli (E - Honda) 27 + 17 + 27 = 71
FINAL SERIES STANDINGS after 8 rounds: 1 Jack PRICE 227 points (CHAMPION), 2 Iwan ROBERTS 195, 3 Arnau Farre 176, 4 Dan PEACE 174, 5 Chatagno 164, 6 Petrella 155, 7 Colairo 102, 8 Sauvage 91, 9 Locca 87, 10 Bincaz 69, 11 Declan BULLOCK 61, 12 Riba 54, 13 Petrangeli 38, 14 Toby MARTIN 31, 15 Marcelli 29, 16 Jack SPENCER 21, 17 Andersen 17, 18 Fioletti 14, 19 Luke WALKER 14, 20 Giarba 14, 21 Pretalli 13, 22 Roper 11, 23 Myohanen 11, 24 Obrado 10, 25 Matejicek 9,...
WORLD TRIALS CHAMPIONSHIP
Rd 8 – Valchiampo, Vicenza, ITALY
DAY ONE
1 Toni Bou (E - Montesa) 5 + 2 + 5 + 1 = 13
2 Adam Raga (E - TRS) 20 + 18 + 18 + - = 56
3 Jeroni Fajardo (E - Vertigo) 21 + 39 + 22 + 4 = 86
4 Albert Cabestany (E - Sherco) 28 + 28 + 33 + - = 89
5 Jaime Busto (E - Montesa) 41 + 33 + 15 + 2 = 91
6 Takahisa Fujinami (J - Montesa) 30 + 38 + 29 + - = 97
7 Jorge Casales (E - Beta) 28 + 34 + 38 + - = 100
8 Matteo Grattarola (I - Gas Gas) 35 + 40 + 37 + - = 112
9 Miquel Gelabert (E - Sherco) 45 + 29 + 39 + - = 113
10 James DABILL (GB - Vertigo) 35 + 41 + 46 + - = 122
11 Benoit Bincaz (F - Scorpa) 42 + 36 + 37 + 10 = 125
12 Alexandre Ferrer (F - Sherco) 43 + 43 + 40 + - = 126
13 Oriol Noguera (E - Montesa) 49 + 35 + 35 + - = 119
14 Franz Kadlec (D - Beta) 46 + 44 + 52 + 5 = 147
15 Eddie Karlsson (S - Montesa) 49 + 50 + 49 + - = 148
DAY TWO
1 Toni Bou (E - Montesa) 15 + 8 + 13 = 36
2 Adam Raga (E - TRS) 16 + 18 + 16 = 50
3 Takahisa Fujinami (J - Montesa) 23 + 13 + 19 = 55
4 Albert Cabestany (E - Sherco) 28 + 17 + 12 = 57
5 Matteo Grattarola (I - Gas Gas) 25 + 22 + 20 = 67
6 Jeroni Fajardo (E - Vertigo) 31 + 23 + 27 = 81
7 Jaime Busto (E - Montesa) 40 + 24 + 21 = 85
8 Jorge Casales (E - Beta) 33 + 31 + 28 = 92
9 Miquel Gelabert (E - Sherco) 39 + 24 + 32 = 95
10 James DABILL (GB - Vertigo) 30 + 36 + 33 = 99
11 Franz Kadlec (D - Beta) 42 + 36 + 27 = 105
12 Alexandre Ferrer (F - Sherco) 35 + 26 + 47 = 108
13 Oriol Noguera (E - Montesa) 40 + 44 + 41 = 125
14 Gianluca Tournour (I - Gas Gas) (8x0) 48 + 38 + 41 = 127
15 Eddie Karlsson (S - Montesa) (4x0) 40 + 46 + 41 = 127
FINAL SERIES STANDINGS after 8 rounds: 1 Toni Bou 289 points, 2 Adam Raga 252, 3 Takahisa Fujinami 190, 4 Cabestany 181, 5 Fajardo 173, 6 Busto 168, 7 DABILL 145, 8 Casales 93, 9 Grattarola 85, 10 Gelabert 74, 11 Kadlec 72, 12 Karlsson 61, 13 Ferrer 47, 14 Gubian 38, 15 Noguera 32, 16 Tarres 28, 17 Ogawa 14, 18 Kuroyama 10, 19 Bincaz 5, 20 Nozaki 5, 21 Tournour 2, 22 Casales 1.
