Toni Bou – Repsol Honda will look to extend his twenty point title lead over arch rival Adam Raga – TRS this Sunday when the sixth round of the 2016 FIM Trial World Championship takes place at Comblain-au-Pont, as Belgium stages the only single day round of the eight event series.
Two times FIM Trial World Champion Raga has just five more competitive days – one in Belgium and two days each in Great Britain and Italy - to run down Bou and stop him winning a tenth consecutive outdoor title, with the championship now down to a two-horse race between the two protagonists.
Bou’s Repsol Honda team mates Takahisa Fujinami and Jaime Busto are battling for third place overall and the veteran Japanese ace forged ahead of his teenage rival at the last round in France following a surprise second place in the opening day’s competition with a stunning win on day two. Busto now has a seventeen-point deficit to make-up on the fans’ favourite Fujigas.
Veteran Catalan Albert Cabestany – Sherco lies fifth in the series but under pressure from Vertigo factory riders, Spain’s Jeroni Fajardo, coming back from injury in France and British contender James Dabill, the team mates having battled for inter-team supremacy all season.
The Trial2 class is once again easily the largest class with thirty challengers listed and is always very competitive. British rider Jack Price – Gas Gas has been the man to beat in 2016 with the teenager having scored an impressive five victories to date to amass an impressive thirty-six point series lead over his compatriot Iwan Roberts – Beta. Talented Spanish rider Arnau Farre – Gas Gas sits only eight points behind Roberts while yet another British rider, Dan Peace – Gas Gas and French ace Gael Chatagno –Sherco are both in with a very real shout of an end of season podium.
Jack Peace – Gas Gas, younger brother of Trial2 contender Dan, is odds-on favourite to tie-up the Trial125 title in Belgium as after Comblain-au-Pont there will be just four competitive days left and contenders in this class discard their four worst scores to decide their final tally. The mathematics show that the British teenager, who already has seven wins from the ten counting days to date, can put the title beyond reach of his German challenger Max Faude – Beta and enjoy the following British round as the winner of the 2016 FIM Trial125 World Cup if all goes to plan.
Since the memorable days of three times FIM Trial World Champion Eddy Lejeune, Belgium has not enjoyed the same level of international success, but with Julien Rosselle – Gas Gas, Maxime Mathy - TRS and Dieter Pletinckx – Sherco all contesting Trial2 plus Maurin Gavage - Scorpa and Simon Mathy – Gas Gas in the Trial125 class the future looks bright for this once great Trial nation.