Despite nursing his wounds following an awkward crash on day one reigning FIM Trial World Champion Toni Bou - Repsol Montesa HRC eclipsed the competition on day two in Spain to claim his third consecutive brace of wins and, in doing so, stretched his lead in the 2012 FIM Trial World Championship to forty-one points with just three rounds remaining. Bou’s teammate, Japan’s Takahisa Fujinami - Repsol Montesa HRC also shrugged off an injury to record fifth and fourth place finishes across two tough days of competition at round four of the series, held just outside the small city of Penarroya Pueblonuevo, located in the province of Córdoba.
While the margin of Bou’s victory over Albert Cabestany - Sherco on Saturday was relatively narrow his triumph on day two was emphatic. Riding his factory Cota 4RT the Catalan notched up just ten marks over a dusty and, consequently, slippery course that caught many of the World’s best riders out. Indeed, it even tested Bou on the first day. He fell on lap one, injuring his thigh, hand and thumb. His discomfort did not show on Sunday, however, and he eased to a stunning victory over compatriot Adam Raga - Gas Gas to put a sixth successive FIM Trial World Championship within reach.
Fujinami’s weekend was no less eventful. He too was suffering from injury following a crash on Saturday in which he damaged his hand, broke a small bone in his finger and lost a fingernail. Given the pain he was in, a top five finish on day one was the best he could have hoped for. The same could be said for day two, as he battled through to take fourth place behind Jeroni Fajardo - Beta. Although clearly still in pain, Fujinami was riding well, but made one too many mistakes to seriously challenge Fajardo for the final podium position on the closing day. His fourth place felt like a victory, though, as prior to the start on Sunday he confessed to his team that he did not think he would be fit enough to finish the event.
While Bou and Fujinami were consistent, their rivals were not. Only Raga claimed a podium position on both days with a third and second respectively. Cabestany was on the same pace as Bou on Saturday, keeping the Repsol Montesa HRC rider on his toes throughout two challenging laps and finishing just three marks adrift of his countryman come the end. However, on Sunday Cabestany had a gearbox problem and placed seventh, dropping valuable championship points.
Raga’s two rostrums and Cabestany’s misfortune really opened up the fight for second place in the series, with just twelve points separating the top four riders behind Bou. Currently leading the battle for vice champion status is Fajardo, with Raga third, Cabestany fourth and Fujinami fifth.
The championship, which has now passed its halfway point, will resume next weekend in Andorra for the penultimate two-day event in the 2012 FIM Trial World Championship calendar. Nothing less than another double victory will satisfy Bou as he heads to the European principality hoping to put even more daylight between him and his rivals at the top of the leaderboard. Fujinami, meanwhile, will seek to reduce the twelve-point gap between he and Fajardo in second place overall.
Toni Bou “For me it was a fantastic weekend. After the big crash I had yesterday I was not sure how I would feel, physically, when I woke up on Sunday. I did not feel one hundred percent, but it was possible to ride. Given how I was feeling I am very happy. During the first lap on Sunday I made one big mistake on section six, after that I was riding really well. The second lap was almost perfect. It was a difficult weekend, and it was a little dangerous. It did not look slippery, but there was no grip on the rock because of the dust. Many riders had big crashes, so it was the same for everyone. I now have less than a week to recover before round five in Andorra, so hopefully I can get some rest and have some physiotherapy so I am in a good condition.”
Takahisa Fujinami “Fourth place on Sunday felt like a victory for me! I was not expecting to do so well because of the incident on Saturday, so I am very happy. In fact, on Sunday morning I was thinking that if I can finish the trial, this would be a good result for me, so to finish in fourth place is really good. I did find it hard, but I kept going. I knew I had to finish to maintain a good position overall in the championship. It would have been easy for me to retire on both days this weekend, but I kept going and I was rewarded with two good results given the situation.”