The tension between the two riders who have dominated the trial world championship for the last two decades is more than evident. This weekend, perhaps, has reached one of the most critical points we can remember.
To put the situation into context, we must go back to this interview we conducted with Adam Raga, where he already expressed his disagreement with the rules that govern the championship at a technical level. These statements were recently corroborated in El Mundo, where the Tarragona native states that “Toni Bou is an incredible rider and I don’t like excuses, but for years the system has been unfair”.
Adam Raga: "Also, lately Toni Bou decides the areas in which he competes and, because of his technique and his bike, he climbs higher than the others, the difficulty always increases."
2T vs 4T
: Who’s right?
Just a few days ago, Takahisa Fujinami, Team Manager of the Repsol Honda Team, published these statements where he concluded that “two-stroke bikes have some advantages over four-stroke bikes, so we are obliged to continuously evolve our racing bike”.
These words are the polar opposite of Adam Raga’s statements in this recent interview, where he points out that “there is a lot of difference in terms of power (more powerful the 4T)”.
The statements did not only focus on the technical differences, but also pointed out that Toni Bou also influences the areas where the race is held “In addition, lately he decides the areas in which to compete and, since he climbs more than the others due to technique and motorcycle, the difficulty always increases. There should be more variety. It’s like a MotoGP rider racing a completely different bike and deciding on the circuit on which to race.”.
These are truly important accusations against Toni Bou, who has dominated all the championships he has participated in for the last fifteen years.
THERE IS NO COMPETITIVE FACTORY AGAINST HONDA
Adam Raga won his last World Cup in 2006. From there, Toni Bou’s hegemony began. For Raga there is an explanation: “In 2013 and 2014 I was very close to overtaking Toni, in fact, the first year I lost to him on the last lap of the last round. Then came the bankruptcy of my brand GASGAS and in the current one, TRRS, I have managed to be competitive, but it is more difficult. If there had been a factory capable of fighting with Honda, of developing a good four-stroke bike, I don’t know what would have happened.”
Raga is not thinking about his retirement at the moment, at 40 years old, as he still looks eager, motivated and competitive. About his results during these years, with the presence of Toni Bou, he states that “I’ve never raced for second, but I can’t deny that there has come a time when if I finish second and I ride well, I’m satisfied.”
In conclusion, here we have a good part of Adam Raga’s statements and his disagreement with the current technical regulations. It will be interesting if I will soon be able to expand on these arguments with concrete points of these technical differences.
