2013 X-Trial Championship Round 5

In front of a capacity crowd Toni Bou – Repsol Montesa rounded out the 2013 FIM X-Trial World Championship with his fifth straight win of the season to maintain his 100% record and to extend his unbeaten run to twenty one victories on the bounce. However with Bou already having been crowned champion, the fight for second place in the general standings was the real story of the night in Nice, France. Adam Raga – Gas Gas came within one mark of defeating Bou, and his emphatic finish to campaign was enough for him to become vice champion ahead of Albert Cabestany – Sherco who finished fourth on the night.

Jeroni Fajardo – Beta was bitterly unlucky not to have claimed a top three championship placing as he grabbed third spot in the French city to draw level on points with Cabestany in the overall standings, but he then lost out to the Sherco rider on a series tie-decider. The evening was packed with drama, as Bou almost failed to qualify and then needed a scrappy three in the last section of the Trial to claim his latest win. However this was only part of the tale as the action started in fierce fashion right from the first moment.

Qualification always promised to be a tense affair with so much at stake and this seemed to spread throughout the riders. Takahisa Fujinami – Repsol Montesa had the unwanted task of being first out and put his progress in doubt as he fived the concrete slabs and the final dry waterfall to end on ten marks. Jack Challoner – Beta confirmed that the course was no easy proposition as he recorded a tally of twelve, which would rule him out of further action. Then Matteo Grattarola – Gas Gas came out to produce his best ride of his season by dropping just seven marks including a maximum in the last hazard that eventually defeated all the riders at this point of the competition.

Perhaps feeling the pressure of being in front of his home fans Alexandre Ferrer – Sherco did not shine, three failures in the five qualifying sections would put him in last spot on the night to spoil what promised to be a great finale to his first full season in the series. Raga looked solid on his initial outing and only came to a halt on the final step of the dry waterfall. His score was matched by his arch-rival Cabestany, as he again failed at the final hurdle. The Sherco rider won the tie-break against Raga to be the best of the qualifiers.

Bou almost created an early shock as he notched up two fives, the second of these nearly ending in disaster as the already crowned champion bounced back down the dry waterfall feet up as he attempted to avoid his second five. Toni was forced into a tie decider against his team mate Fujinami, as the Repsol pairing found themselves in the unusual position of scrapping it out for the last qualifying places. Bou would at least triumph in this duel.

As has often been the case this season, Bou began to stamp his authority on the event as soon as the semi-final got underway and his amazing clean on the dry waterfall at his second attempt was the ride of the event. Raga kept him true throughout the closing stages and pulled off a great clean in the final hazard to apply the pressure. Bou can count himself fortunate to have literally hung on for the win as he clawed his way over the last rock. Fajardo and Cabestany lost ground to the leading duo and became engaged in their own battle, which Jeroni won on the night, but Albert won overall to create a dramatic climax to a great series.