Toni Bou – Repsol Montesa HRC twice rode his factory Cota 4RT into second place at round two of 2013 FIM Trial World Championship in the USA, whilst his team mate Takahisa Fujinami – Repsol Montesa HRC placed fifth and third respectively over the two days of competition in Tennessee. Adam Raga – Gas Gas recorded back to back wins at the US Trial Grand Prix and now heads Bou by a single point in the general standings. Jeroni Fajardo - Beta was third on day one, but was demoted to fourth spot on day two.
After an absence of five years the FIM Trial World Championship returned to the USA, and to the Trials Training Center at Sequatchie, Tennessee, which lasted hosted the series back in 2008. The purpose developed venue, two and half hours drive north of Atlanta city provided an ideal setting for round two of this year’s campaign. The heavily wooded and sprawling site is home to an extensive array of natural terrain, with big boulders and almost dry creeks being the theme for the majority of the twelve sections, which were ridden three times on each of the two days of competition.
Saturday’s competition played out under blue skies and in warm temperature, which continued the drying process that had began over the latter part of the week. Fajardo showed his liking for the almost Spanish type conditions to become the early leader as he edged clear of both Bou and Raga, but only after all the three leading riders incurred a single time penalty each as a result of their slow progress through the initial sections. Raga put one hand firmly on the winner’s trophy as he went unpenalised on his second lap to move into the lead, as Bou dropped three marks over the same period.
Raga showed great composure as he needed only a single dab on his final lap to round out a well deserved winner for the first time this season, and a comfortable eight marks in front of Bou on his factory four stroke machine who had to be content with the runners up spot on this occasion. Early leader Fajardo was demoted to third come the finish, but was still pleased to be on the podium and ahead of Albert Cabestany Sherco and Fujinami who finished fourth and fifth respectively on day one of the US Grand Prix.
The organisers made changes to four sections overnight to increase the severity as the ground continued to benefit from the ongoing good weather. The alterations certainly produced a stiffer challenge, but the leading riders responded with some great riding, which saw Raga close out the first lap on three marks to put himself two head of Bou at this stage. Bou fought back to draw level with Raga by the end of the second lap, whilst Fujinami slotted himself into third position albeit someway of the leading pace.
The pressure affected both Bou and Raga as they each made errors on the final and decisive lap, which saw them lose more marks on their last visit to the twelve sections, double in fact, than they had dropped on their first two laps combined. Bou’s failure at the step in section ten forced him into a tie-break with Raga, with the Gas Gas rider eventually benefitting after he recorded one more clean than Toni to take his second win of the weekend. Fujinami stayed consistent throughout the day to claim the last podium place and to remain third in the general standings as the series heads back to Europe for round three next months.
Toni Bou: “When you do not win, second place is the best result you can hope for. Yesterday Adam (Raga) was very strong and I made some mistakes. But today we have both ridden incredibly well, but my error in section ten on the final lap was a big disaster. As you can see these results this weekend are not good for the championship, but all we can do now is to prepare for the next round, especially in terms of my physical fitness as I have struggled with that at the end today.
The sections were better today, as they were more difficult than yesterday, so this is not reason for my result today, as I have to take the responsibility for this.”
Takahisa Fujinami: “Yesterday was a bad day, because my riding was bad too. I think I came here with quite a lot of pressure after I won the second day in Japan, and I let that affect me. Fifth place was not a complete disaster, but my goal is always to be on the podium. Today I rode much better and with much more confidence, and although the bike stopped twice in two sections and cost me ten marks, overall I can be satisfied to be on the podium at the finish as it was impossible to catch Adam (Raga) and Toni (Bou) today.”