Trials Torque: Crunch time in world title chase
By John Dickinson on 8th Jun 16
THE FIM Trials World Championship reaches the half-way point in Andorra this weekend as the Principality stages the fourth of the eight-round series at St Julia de Loria.
And with Toni Bou having won the last three rounds, one in Japan and both days in Germany, Adam Raga is looking to turn the tables on the nine-times reigning champion.
Repsol Honda ace Bou has been winning, despite riding with a shoulder injury and as he gets stronger things will look increasingly bleak for his rivals.
But TRS star Raga has every reason to be confident as last year he was confidently victorious taking clear wins on both days at the same venue.
And with Bou only holding an eleven-point lead going into the Andorra round Raga could cut this significantly.
But should Bou add to his hard-won Championship lead as he bids to extend his winning run of World titles to an amazing 10, it will prove much harder for Raga to get back on terms in the four remaining rounds.
There are of course several other riders hoping to put their own spanner in the Championship works.
Sherco's veteran Albert Cabestany surprised many when he won the opening round of the year in Spain while Repsol Honda's own vet, Japan's Takahisa Fujinami, bagged a couple of podiums in his home round.
Since Michael Brown announced his retirement from the TWC, James Dabill has been Britain's sole runner.
And while the Vertigo rider has been a little inconsistent he has also nailed two third places, climbing the podium in Spain and more relevantly in the last round in Germany.
Dibs is well capable of further podiums and top-five placings and has the added incentive of beating his new team-mate of this year, Jeroni Fajardo.
Both Vertigo riders are currently dead level in the standings on 62 points in sixth and seventh places, just 10 points adrift of Repsol Honda youngster Jaime Busto, with Cabestany and Fujinami only single points in front of Busto.
Andorra could bring about a real change in the Championship.
The tiny Principality, home to just 9,000-odd residents, sits snugly in the Pyrenees between Spain and France and its 900 metres of altitude and subsequent lack of air just sucks power out of engines.
To keep power loss to a minimum the factories have to work hard to adjust compression ratios, carburetion (or efi mapping) and ignition. Get it right and it is points in the bank.
Get it wrong and it's out of the top 10!
In Trial2 Britain boasts a current one-two with Jack Price and Iwan Roberts. JST Gas Gas rider Jack is currently on fire having won the last three rounds.
His two victories in Germany leap-frogged him ahead of TTT Beta teamster Roberts, opening up an incredible 16-point lead.
Spain's Arnau Farre is just four points behind Iwan and then Dan Peace on the JST Cloburn Gas Gas makes it three Brits in the top four – although just one point ahead of French ace Benoit Bincaz on the Scorpa.
Beta's Dec Bullock has been super consistent scoring points in all eight days of competition to date and sits in 11th place.
In Trial125 Jack Peace, mounted like his brother on a JST Cloburn Gasser, is in total control of proceedings sitting well ahead of German challenger Max Faude.
