Toni Bou It’s back to being The main protagonist of the third scoring test for the Indoor X-Trial World Championship, held at the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona, under the watchful eye of 20,000 spectators who were also able to enjoy the second scoring event for the Indoor Enduro World Championship.
The rider from Montesa has scored in all the rounds, signing his brilliant performance with a total of only four points. This record is truly spectacular, especially taking into account the high level of the areas proposed by Francesc Tarrés (brother of Jordi Tarrés), and proof of this is that his most direct rivals, Cabestany and Raga, have scored final scores of 22 and 24 points, respectively.
The first surprise of the afternoon, although in this case negative, was James Dabill (Beta), who was eliminated again in the first qualifying round in favor of the young Jack Challoner (Beta). Along with James, Michael Brown (Gas Gas) was eliminated, who also did not have a good afternoon in his second official appearance with the Girona brand.
In the next round, two other riders were left out again, in this case Jack Challoner (Beta), who still put in a magnificent performance, and the Japanese Takahisa Fujinami (Montesa), who is still blaming the consequences of the strong neck blow suffered in the Marseille Indoor Trial.
Therefore, the riders facing the final round were Bou, Raga, Cabestany and Fajardo. Bou quickly distanced himself from his rivals, setting impressive times in the most selective areas and fine-tuning those that a priori presented less difficulty. Proof of this are the high scores of their most direct rivals, Cabestany, who signed a card of 22 points (8+14) and Raga of 24 (12+12). Jeroni Fajardo was further away from the places of honor by scoring a much weaker second round, adding a record of 35 points (16+19) in the end.
According to Bou:
“It has been an incredible day where everything has happened much better than I could have expected. I was able to make a difference in both the semi-final and the final, overcoming areas that my rivals were not able to overcome. All this while having a great time, here in Barcelona, in front of my audience. I couldn’t ask for more, I remember the first victory at the Palau Sant Jordi as the most special, but today’s I dare to describe it as the best career award of my life. The championship is looking good; So far we have done a great job but we have to be cautious, as there are still 60 points at stake and 3 races where, with these regulations, mistakes can be very costly.”
According to Fujinami:
“In the semi-final I started badly, with a five in the parallel race that conditioned me throughout the round in a trial of high demand and level. Finishing sixth is not a good result, but considering that I am in the process of recovering still the sensations have not been all bad. In qualifying I had some neck pain, but for me the important thing was to focus on the qualifying round and return all the affection of the people of Barcelona with a good show. I’m sure we’ll keep improving in the next three races.”
In the provisional standings, Bou is very prominent and everything points to him renewing his world championship crown, although he wants to be conservative and think about each race. Now the fight is focused on second place, with Cabestany and Raga very evenly matched, with a provisional advantage for the Sherco rider. Everything indicates that there will be no surprises in these three places of honor. We’ll see if Fujinami is able to hunt down Fajardo, or if, on the contrary, the Ossa rider manages to connect with the leading trio.
Next week we are looking forward to Geneva. Then there will be a month off and we will finish the season in Milan on March 19th
Text: Trialworld / Photos: TW & FIM
BARCELONA INDOOR TRIAL CLASSIFICATION
1. TONI BOU (MONTESA): 4 POINTS
2. ALBERT CABESTANY (SHERCO): 22 POINTS
3. ADAM RAGA (GAS GAS): 24 POINTS
4. JERONI FAJARDO (OSSA): 35 POINTS
ELIMINATED IN THE SEMI-FINAL
5. JACK CHALLONER (BETA): 19 POINTS
6. TAKAHISA FUJINAMI (MONTESA): 22 POINTS
ELIMINATED IN GRADING
7. JAMES DABILL (BETA): 20 POINTS
8. MICHAEL BROWN (GAS GAS): 25 POINTS
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION
TONI BOU (MONTESA): 60 POINTS
ALBET CABESTANY (SHERCO): 42 POINTS
ADAM RAGA (GAS GAS): 39 POINTS
JERONI FAJARDO (OSSA): 24 POINTS
TAKAHISA FUJINAMI (MONTESA): 20 POINTS
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