Reigning world champion Toni Bou was up against it in a tricky day in Ile Rousse, Corsica, home to the third Grand Prix in the season’s calendar. The rider got off to a fine start, chalking up the best score on the first lap, with his nearest rival hot on his heels. Two errors made on lap two complicated the chances of victory for the Montesa Cota 4RT rider. The Repsol Honda Team member’s second place finish this weekend in Corsica means that he concedes first place on the overall leader-board to Adam Raga, two points ahead of Bou who now has 88 points.
Fellow Repsol Honda Team member Takahisa Fujinami, meanwhile, found himself confronting sections little suited to his particular style of riding. The rider made up for some mistakes made on the first lap, in some of lap two’s sections, but a poor start to the third lap dampened his spirits and impeded any come-back. In the end, the rider failed to make a podium place but claimed a sixth final position after a hard-fought struggle. In spite of this, ‘Fujigas’ holds on to third overall place in the world championship standings.
Next stop for the Trial World Championship will be the Italian GP, this time a single-day event set to take place on Sunday 1st June in Alagna Valsesia, which lies in the Italian region of Piemonte, very close to the Swiss border.
It was a really complicated day for me. Adam and I were neck and neck and it was really difficult to make a difference in sections that were so easy like the ones in this trial. Today I made two mistakes on lap two that cost me the race. It’s difficult to come back after making mistakes like that. Today there was a lot of pressure, and I couldn’t commit errors. I hope that the Italian one is more complicated, with a high level, and the aim, of course, will be to get ahead of Adam back at the top of the table.
I was faced with terrain that wasn’t really to my liking, and it didn’t feel right all weekend. It reminded me a lot of ‘indoor’ and it was really hard to get a result. I tried to psyche myself up for the second lap that went much better, but on the beginning of the final lap I picked up three faults in row which it was difficult to recover from. Now the best thing is to forget about the result and look forward to next weekend in Italy that has a lot more natural sections.