Toni Bou Draws First Blood In New Outdoor Season

It was business as usual for Toni Bou on the opening day of the new season in JapanReigning champion Toni Bou – Repsol Honda began the defence of his title with a win on the opening day of the 2015 FIM Trial World Championship held at the Twin Ring circuit – Motegi, Japan. Bou carved out an initial lead on lap one and was never to surrender his position at the top of the order despite being kept honest by eventual runner-up Jeroni Fajardo – Beta, who finished just nine marks adrift of the Repsol rider. Adam Raga – Gas Gas started the day poorly by his own high standards and then was forced to play catch up as he finally took the last rostrum spot four marks behind Fajardo.

These leading three riders were in a class of their own on day one of the Japanese Grand Prix that was held in brilliant sunshine and mainly dry conditions, apart from a few muddy hazards. Home hero Takahisa Fujinami – Repsol Honda made a solid return from his long-term knee injury as he placed fourth after a daylong tussle with Albert Cabestany – Sherco who would eventually complete the top five in the Word Pro class.

Seventeen-year-old Jamie Busto – Repsol Honda made an impressive debut in the premier division as he secured sixth position after he finished three marks the better of his Spanish compatriot Jorge Casales – Beta who had to settle for seventh spot on the day. The Japanese pairing of Kenichi Kuroyama – Yamaha and Tomoyuki Ogawa – Honda occupied eighth and ninth places respectively whilst Alexandre Ferrer – Sherco closed out a closely packed top ten where only sixth marks separated sixth to tenth positions.

French rider Benoit Bincaz took the first victory in the World Cup ChampionshipIn the FIM World Cup class it was France’s Benoit Bincaz – Scorpa who took the first victory of the new season mainly thanks to an excellent closing performance. Bincaz dropped just ten marks on his third tour to win by a clear twelve marks from Oriol Noguera – Honda despite having played second fiddle to his Spanish challenger for most of the day. The Honda rider did just enough to fend off a spirited fight back from Miquel Gelabert – Sherco who posted strong scores on laps two and three to finish the day in third place and within two marks of snatching the runners-up spot. France’s Quentin Carles de Caudemberg – Beta and Britain’s Dan Peace – Gas Gas rounded out the top five on day one in the FIM World Cup division.

Italy’s Marco Fioletti – Beta produced an outstanding third and final lap to seal what was a comfortable win come the finish in the FIM 125 Cup category. The young Italian rider had trailed his French rival Maxime Varin – Scorpa after two laps, but he then turned a six mark deficit going into the last twelve sections into a twenty-eight  mark advantage come the end to take first blood in this class. Although Varin was to implode on the run in, he still managed to salvage second spot ahead of home rider Yuki Onuma – Beta who rounded out the podium after holding off two of his compatriots in what was a fierce fight to the death for third position.

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