Fresh from clinching her twelfth FIM Women’s Trial World Championship, Laia Sanz – Gas Gas maintained her 100% winning record this season as she won the second day of the competition held in Tramelan, Switzerland.
Riding with greatly reduced pressure Sanz really stamped her authority on today’s event as she ran out a clear and comfortable winner over her main title rival Emma Bristow – Ossa. In much drier conditions than had prevailed yesterday Laia dropped a mere seven marks over the two laps, which included an almost perfect closing performance when she lost just a single dab in section ten on her second tour.
For the second day running, again it was Bristow who finished as runner-up to Sanz, but unlike twenty-four hours earlier when she had really pushed her Spanish rival hard, today she simply had no answer to Laia’s superior showing. In fact Emma only just managed to hang on to second spot on this occasion as she defeated her British compatriot Rebekah Cook – Beta on a tie-decider that was finally split on overall time. After two laps of fourteen sections the British duo were locked on twenty-nine marks apiece and could not be separated as the number of cleans, ones, twos, threes and fives were calculated. In the end it was Bristow who got the decision having completed the event over twenty minutes faster than Cook.
No less than seven hazards were eased overnight to prevent a repeat of yesterday’s high scoring Trial. That along with much kinder weather produced a less challenging second day of competition for the thirty-one female competitors from ten different countries. Despite the very different conditions the top six places today were occupied by the same six riders in the exact same order as yesterday. Sandrine Juffet – JTG again claimed fourth spot, whilst Sandra Gomez – Gas Gas continued to see her campaign fade with yet another fifth position, as Donna Fox – Beta once again rounded out the top six.
Germany’s Theresa Bauml – Beta recorded her best ever result in the FIM Women’s Trial World Championship, her seventh place being a marked improvement of her previous best fifteenth position. Katy Sunter – Gas Gas made a welcome return to the series and followed up her seventh spot on day one with a solid eighth place finish on day two. Australia’s Kristie McKinnon – Gas Gas maintained her consistent form over the weekend to secure ninth position for the second day in a row. Fifteen year old Nikita Smith – Gas Gas confirmed herself as a name for the future as she took tenth spot this time out to add to the eighth position she earned yesterday.
The riders will now make the short trip to Moutier, Switzerland for the fifth and final counting day at round three of the 2012 FIM Women’s Trial World Championship this coming Friday. Here Sanz will no doubt look to sign off the season undefeated, whilst Bristow, Cook and Gomez will continue to scrap it out for the other major places in the final championship standings.
Championship Results
1. Laia Sanz - 7
2. Emma Bristow - 29 (18 cleans, 2 x 1, 3 x 2, 2 x 3, 3 x 5. Time: 3:55:39)
3. Becky Cook - 29 (18 cleans, 2 x 1, 3 x 2, 2 x 3, 3 x 5. Time: 4:19:53)
4. Sandrine Juffet - 52
5. Sandra Gomez - 54
6. Donna Fox - 72
7. Theresa Bauml - 75
8. Katy Sunter - 83 (4 cleans)
9. Kristie McKinnon - 83 (3 cleans)
10. Nikita Smith - 86