Toni Bou completes the second day of the Japanese GP with a new victory, this time much closer, by just one point ahead of Albert Cabestany. The Sherco rider leaves Japan with a double podium to his credit, a second and a third, which place him in the third provisional position. tied with a fantastic Jeroni Fajardo who this time was left off the podium in favour of the local rider, Takahisa Fujinami.
Bou started the day with a good pace, with two mistakes in the most decisive areas, 5 and 10, but completing the rest practically cleanly. This gave him a margin over his rivals for the second lap of only 3 points, as Cabestany signed a first partial of 12 points, followed by Fujinami with 16 and a double tie between Fajardo and Raga with 19 points.
In the second pass through the zones, things got complicated for Bou, who despite adding two more points than in the previous partial, managed to manage his lead and stay at the head of the classification by a short margin of only one point against Cabestany, who in this second lap penalized 9 points. against Bou’s 11.
Fujinami also closed his second set with 9 points and secured the third place on the podium, being able to at least give his fans a place in the places of honor. Behind him, a good Fajardo, who drove in no man’s land and could do little, except stay up, after being excessively loaded with points on the first lap.
The most positive thing for the Beta rider was being able to finish ahead of Raga, who was fifth, knocking him out of the top 3 in the general classification. The Gas Gas rider had a bad weekend, signing an unusual sixth and fifth place, when he started the season as leader and is now fourth in the overall calculation, 35 points behind Bou.
Finally, we would like to highlight the great performance of Dani Oliveras , sixth on this day, repeating the great feat that already took place on the first day of the Australian GP and confirming his fantastic form.
In Junior victory for Alexandre Ferrer , who counts all his performances in 2012 as victories, except yesterday, where Pol Tarrés stole this position from him. Pol was second on this last day, which allows him to place in second position in the general classification and five points ahead of his toughest rival, Moret, who had a bad day today and could only be seventh in a tight race.
Chronicle and standings of the Japanese GP day 1. Here.
Text: Trialworld / Photos: FIM
Full qualifying day 2 Japanese GP. Here.
Full qualifying day 2 Japanese GP. Junior. Here.
Toni Bou: “Honda does a fantastic job and huge efforts for us, so what could be better than a double win in their home country as a thank you? I’m very, very happy to have done it. Today was much more complicated than yesterday as the race was not decided until the last section. It has been a perfect weekend that has allowed us to close the first half of the championship with an almost unbeatable balance. Our motivation is high and we will continue working to continue in this vein until the end”.
Takahisa Fujinami: “I made a mistake in the fourth section of the first lap that was decisive. On the second lap I picked up the pace, I went more at my own pace and when I reached the last section I could even aspire to second position. I wanted this podium, both for Honda and for myself and obviously I’m very happy with it. It was very important to be able to celebrate with my audience, whom I want to thank for all the support.”
Àdam Raga: “On Saturday I was very disappointed. It was a bad result in a race from which I expected much more. The zones were very easy, with the difficulty that this represents when it comes to recovering points. As if that weren’t enough, a series of factors came together that made everything end really badly. It’s true that I made some mistakes, that I scored some points because of bad luck, but I just lost my focus when I flattened the rear wheel of the bike after a jump. It was a shame.
On Sunday we improved a bit and my riding was more consistent, although the final result was very similar. This makes me think of Peñarroya. I have to work a little more for the next races, in order to avoid this type of mistakes that end up costing me not only the win but also the podium.
I’m satisfied with how the bike worked and how everyone worked, so I’m calm in this respect. My goal is to improve at the next Spanish Grand Prix and I’m aware of what I have to do to make that step forward.”
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