Toni Bou Seals Ninth Consecutive Outdoor Title

Toni Bou – Repsol Honda continues to rewrite the history books as today he sealed an incredible and almost unbelievable ninth successive FIM Trial World Championship when he won the second day of the Portuguese Grand Prix hosted at Paços de Ferreira / Santo Tirso, Portugal. Bou’s thirteenth win of the current campaign proved to be anything but unlucky as he claimed his ninth outdoor crown to add to the nine FIM Indoor / X-Trial World Championships he has already won to now give him eighteenth individual FIM World titles and with one round of the 2015 series still remaining.

In warm and dry conditions Bou clinched his latest title with his usual style by delivering two clean laps to end day two of the Portuguese GP on six marks and six marks clear of runner up Adam Raga – Gas Gas. Raga again did his absolute best to beat both Toni on the day and to keep the championship alive until the final round in seven days’ time, but Adam’s only consolation on the day was for him to secure second place in the series, as like Bou he can now not be caught irrespective of his results next weekend. Albert Cabestany – Sherco returned to the podium after failing to feature in the top three at the previous round in the USA as he prevented Jaime Busto – Repsol Honda from taking third spot for the second day running.

Busto looked likely to make amends for missing out of a rostrum place yesterday, but again the World Pro rookie was beaten to the box by one of his more experienced rivals. With Busto in fourth position Jeroni Fajardo – Beta was demoted to fifth spot on day two after his podium finish twenty four hours earlier as three marks defined places three to five on a day when changes to five sections made little difference to the final outcome.

Again Jorge Casales – Beta made it an all-Spanish top six despite finishing well off the pace of the top five. Alexandre Ferrer – Sherco was once more the first of the non-Spanish protagonists as he matched his Saturday performance and claimed seventh place for the second day in a row. Eddie Karlsson – Montesa made a marked improvement over his previous day’s showing as he ended in eighth spot whilst Takahisa Fujinami – Repsol Honda fought through severe back pain to take ninth just ahead of James Dabill – Vertigo who closed out the top ten again on what proved to be a disappointing weekend for the recently crowned British national champion.

In the FIM Trial World Cup division, Benoit Bincaz – Scorpa recorded his fourth win of the year to continue the pattern of not one rider being able to string together a series of victories in this particular class. Bincaz had to come from behind to claim his latest triumph after he produced an outstanding closing lap to overtake Filippo Locca – Beta who had led on the opening two tours. The Italian rider was beaten by two marks by his French counterpart as just seven marks separated the top five riders in this ultra competitive category.

Current championship leader, Miquel Gelabert – Sherco maintains his position at the head of the general standings as he was the final podium finisher today and will take a healthy lead into the final and deciding event in his home country next weekend. Despite their poor showings today, Quentin Carles de Caudemberg – Beta ended down in eighth and Oriol Noguera – Honda in eleventh, this pairing remain second and third respectively in the title race. Iwan Roberts – Beta and yesterday’s winner Arnau Farre – Beta rounded out today’s top five respectively and are split by just two points in the championship table with the Spanish rider holding the slight lead ahead of his home GP.

In almost a repeat of twenty-four hours earlier, again it was Marco Fioletti – Beta who dominated the FIM 125 Trial Cup with lap scores all in single figures to give him a total of thirteen marks for the day. This compared to the forty four marks lost by the runner up for the second day in a row, Gabriel Giro – Beta. From the first lap Fioletti’s fourteenth win of the season and his eleventh without defeat was never in doubt and over the remaining two laps the recent crowned champion further stretched his advantage over his rivals. In a mirror of the previous day’s podium, Maxime Varin – Scorpa again rounded out the top three to reinforce his position as vice champion in this class with two counting days still to be ridden.

The 2015 FIM Trial World Championship will come to a close next weekend in Teo, Spain with the two final days of competition taking place.

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