The weather conditions that the Trial World Championship riders encountered on the second day were difficult. The rain that fell throughout the night and morning has made the areas change a little and have become much more technical.
Despite a heavy crash suffered by the world champion, Toni Bou, he was able to continue to put in a great performance and take a double from Great Britain. After the end of the race, the man from Montesa was transferred to the hospital to have stitches placed in his right abdominal wall.
Behind him has been classified an Adam Raga that it has not been able to meet the objectives it had set for itself, and he returns to Spain with a 10-point deficit in the general standings against Bou. Jeroni Fajardo completed the Spanish podium with 68 points, only three more than Gas Gas.
Takahisa Fujinami was fourth, Albert Cabestany fifth, Dani Oliveras eleventh and Pere Borrellas fourteenth.
In Junior, Pol Tarrés won this time but Jorge Casales’ second place brings him closer to the title. There are still two rounds in France and the gap between them is 13 points. Francesc Moret was one step away from the podium and had to settle for fourth, although tied on points with third.
Oriol Noguera was thirteenth and Carles Traviesa eighteenth.
In Trial 125cc Nacho Fernández – Sancho has made thirteenth with 65 points and is ninth in the general classification of the category.
The next two days of competition of the Trial World Championship will be held in France on August 31 and September 1 at Isola 2000.
Miquel Cirera, team-manager of the team, described everything that happened today as follows: “After Toni’s [Bou] crash we did the numbers and we saw that even with a five-point penalty in each of the five remaining areas to be played, we were assured of victory. Toni decided to give it a try and went all the way. The injury isn’t serious, we’re not worried about it and even less so when we have four weeks out of competition ahead of us. The ten-point lead at the top of the overall standings gives us more confidence to achieve our goal, to defend the title for the seventh consecutive year.”
Takahisa Fujinami: “I didn’t start in the good way I did yesterday and I can’t be satisfied with the first lap, or most of the second. Then I went further, I recovered my sensations from the previous day and I reached the last section with options to repeat the second position, which finally escaped me. Consolidating third place in the general standings a little more was the most positive thing of the day.”
Adam Raga: “The balance is quite good, although this race was more complicated than I expected. There were some areas that I had a hard time getting right and, in addition, I failed in the easy ones, such as breaking a tape in an area that could have gone well. Victory has slipped away from me in these easy areas. Then I was able to recover and in the last sections I was able to make the difference despite falling hard in zone 8 of the third lap, giving me a good blow on my right leg. We had to fine-tune to get second place, as the first one was very difficult.
Now all that’s left is to fight until the end in the last race. It’s 10 points that separate me from Toni [Bou], but there’s 40 at stake. Anything is possible. In France it would be great to get two wins, but if that doesn’t happen, we still have to make a very positive assessment of the whole season.”
Jorge Casales: “I think I had a good first lap, but on the second lap I made some mistakes. Pol did better than me and won, nothing to say. I’m first overall and there’s only one race to go, so I have to push as hard as possible. Anything can happen, and you have to be very focused until the end. I won’t have a holiday, as next weekend I will race in the Arinsal Trial, but I think it will be a good training for the last race of the World Championship.”
UNITED KINGDOM GP DAY 2 RESULTS
UNITED KINGDOM JUNIOR GP CLASSIFICATION
UNITED KINGDOM YOUTH GP CLASSIFICATION
UNITED KINGDOM GP MATCH REPORT AND RESULTS DAY 1
Today was held in Great Britain the first scoring day in this scenario for the Trial World Championship
, tomorrow the second day of competition will be held. From a sporting point of view, once again the Spanish riders have been at the top of the standings. In Great Britain, the first day of competition has been one of the most disputed, but always with the Spaniards as the protagonists.
In World Pro Toni Bou took the victory after two brilliant first laps. If we add to his good performance that Adam Raga did not start well, resulting in the first position of the Montesa rider.
Bou’s teammate, Takahisa Fujinami, was also very good taking second place overall. The Gas Gas rider was third thanks to his reaction in the past finals. As for the score obtained by the three winners, Bou has made 14 penalties, Fujinami 21 and Raga 45.
Jeroni Fajardo has qualified fourth with 46, Albert Cabestany fifth with 49, Daniel Oliveras tenth with 88 and Pere Borrellas fourteenth with 154.
In Junior, Jorge Casales, Pol Tarrés and Francesc Moret took all the honours. The first two fought for the victory but it was taken by the Gas Gas rider only by one point over Tarrés. Jorge has scored 10 and Pol 11. Francesc 21. Carles Traviesa and Oriol Noguera also did well, finishing seventh and ninth, respectively.
In 125cc Nacho Fernandez – Sancho is the only Spanish representative. He has qualified sixteenth with 66 penalties.
Tomorrow they will all compete again in Penrith to continue taking the Spanish Trial to the top of the world.
Toni Bou: “It was very important to win again, to take the fourth victory in the last five races and that my teammate finished second, deducting two points from my main rival in the fight for the title. We are in a good line and tomorrow will be an important day again, as the forecast of rain can increase the difficulty of the sections and leave them in the conditions in which I feel best and enjoy the most”.
Takahisa Fujinami: “I did my race, since the starting position prevented me from having references from my main opponents. On the first lap I made a couple of mistakes but I stayed very focused. In the second, given the possibility of rain, I went even more on my own. And the third one has been great. I felt a lot of confidence on the bike. The team had worked it since the previous test and this result is the best way to thank them.”
Adam Raga: “I’m happy with how I reacted today. I started very badly, with a fiasco in zone 2 and another in zone 4. This has hurt me a lot because it has been very difficult for me to get back into the rhythm. It’s been tricky, because there’s always the possibility of making mistakes and ending up sinking down the standings. But as I said, I’m satisfied because I fought to recover the positions, and all in all, third place is a good result because we keep our chances for the championship.”
Jorge Casales: “I made a good start to the race, I felt comfortable with the bike and the terrain. I rode quite well in these indoor areas. In the second one, I had a big mistake in zone 3 and I made a ‘several’ and on the last lap I made a very absurd fiasco in the penultimate zone. Luckily, I was able to win. Both Pol and Moret pushed hard. Tomorrow it will be difficult to finish on the podium. They are very strong. Finally, I want to dedicate this victory to all the victims of the Santiago train accident, they deserve a memory.”
UNITED KINGDOM GP DAY 1 RESULTS
BRITISH GP DAY 1 RESULTS – WORLD CATEGORY
BRITISH GP DAY 1 RESULTS – JUNIOR CATEGORY
BRITISH GP RESULTS DAY 1 – JUNIOR CATEGORY 125
