Trials Torque: Bou Wants Perfect 10
By John Dickinson on 23rd Mar 16
THE four-round FIM X-Trial World Championship comes to a close this Friday evening in the French city of Marseille with reigning nine times champ Toni Bou hot favourite to make that 10!
Repsol Montesa ace Bou and Adam Raga on the all-new TRS machine went into last weekend's third round in Austria level on points.
But Bou emerged triumphant while Raga was nudged down to third by Sherco's Albert Cabestany after the two were forced into a dramatic run-off.
So while you might think the Championship done and dusted there could easily be an upset.
Bou made just one mistake in the Sheffield opening round and Raga pounced with a superb ride – and in X-Trial anything can happen.
Should Raga take the win and Bou be pushed down to third, perhaps by making just a single error under pressure, Raga would take the title.
Under the rules while they would have had exactly the same results over the four rounds, if there is a tie-break the winner will be the one with the best result in the last round.
So for Adam there is all to ride for!
Cabestany has been on good form and could well throw a spanner in the works while both Jeroni Fajardo on the Vertigo and veteran Japanese entertainer Takahisa Fujinami wil be looking to end the Indoor series with a flourish.
Lone French rider is Alexandre Ferrer and after finishing last in Austria Ferrer will want to do well in front of his home crowd. The Sherco rider lives just 100k away and will have big support from family and friends and a partisan crowd.
Young Swede Eie Karlsson is the last of the contracted riders and Eddie has been improving of late and this is his last chance to make a big impression.
Especially as the wild card is Spain's latest young gun on the scene, Repsol Montesa's Jaime Busto.
This will only be Busto's second X-Trial, his debut was in the cauldron that is the Palau San Jordi stadium in Barcelona and the teenager finished in last place.
Jaime is better than that result and he could well take some scalps in Marseille.
So, is it 10 for Bou or will Raga steal a fifth crown – if he does it will be his first since 2006 before Bou began his incredible unbeaten run...
