Just one week after being proclaimed Outdoor Trial World Champion for the sixth time in a row, Toni Bou climbed back to the top of the podium in the penultimate scoring test -TR1 and TR2- for the Spanish Trial Championship, held in Pobladura de las Regueras. Second place went to Albert Cabestanand the last step on the podium went to Adam Raga.
Pobladura de las Regueras is an idyllic setting for the practice of Trial, being also an important example of how a humble town of El Bierzo can gain national recognition and boost the region economically. There, in addition to the traditional Classic Trial competitions, a round of the Trial World Championship will be held in June 2013.
At this rendezvous there were two important casualties; that of Jeroni Fajardo , after being injured in the last Italian GP, and Laia Sanz, who is still recovering from her foot after breaking a toe in the last Enduro GP. At first it was also speculated that Toni Bou himself could be out due to the injury he has been carrying in his hamstring since the Spanish GP. Finally Toni decided to take the start and ensure, as far as possible, the points advantage he had to his credit against Raga and arrive with options for the title to Cal Rosal.
In addition to Toni Bou, the great protagonist of the last races is Albert Cabestany. In the Andorran GP he scored an important victory, in Italy he led a good part of the race and lost the first step in the last stages of the race. In Pobladura he also set a great initial pace , completing the first pass through the 12 zones with a spectacular partial of 5 points, followed by Bou with 7, weighed down by a fiasco in the tenth zone, and further away, with no chance of victory, a Raga, who had to open the zones, with a card of 20 points.
La La’s biggest rival Struggle in the second group was cardiac. Casales, Moret and Tarrés, great rivals in the Junior World Championship, completed the first round with the same record: 31 points. Borrellas, with 38.
In the second pass through the 12 sections, the four leading riders improved their previous records. Bou managed to recover the difference of 2 points against Cabestany by marking a clean turn, without penalties. Perfect. Faced with this level of success , Cabestany was left with no margin for error. Finally, despite improving on his previous round, the 2 points that he had to add to his card caused a final tie on points with Bou that was resolved in favor of the latter, with a greater number of zeros on his card.
Raga also achieved a great record of only 3 points, but it was only enough for him to complete the podium and finish 15 points behind the head of the race. Behind him, another fantastic race by Jorge Casales, who after four consecutive podiums in the world championship certifies his great form. In Pobladura he also managed to open a margin of 16 and 19 points against his main rivals, Moret and Tarrés, respectively. Closing the standings, 11 behind the latter, Pere Borrellas.
With this panorama, it is enough for Bou to finish in the top five in Cal Rosal on November 18 to be proclaimed Spanish Champion 2012. A mere formality for the big favourite. Cabestany has Raga 12 points behind, an almost impossible distance to overcome in a single race in a context such as the Spanish Trial Championship.
In TR2 victory for Carles Traviesa, followed by Ivan Peydro and Carlos Rivero.
In Junior , another victory for Jaime Busto , who counts all his performances as victories, followed by Ignacio Martín and Miquel Gelabert.
In TR3 there is also a clear dominator of this race and the championship: Francesc Recio. Behind him, a double tie between Hector Gairin and Adrián Artidiello, resolved in this order, respectively, by the highest number of “ones” on his card. In TR3+35 , the only three participants finished in this order: Rubén García, Manuel García and Marcos González.
Among the Cadets , victory for Adrián Villabrille, followed by César Dus and Julián Montalvo.
Text: Trialworld / Photos: Alicia Presa & FIM & JC Vázquez
Toni Bou: “The outcome was uncertain until the last moment and I also competed with my injured leg in mind. It hasn’t bothered me as much as the country
But I can’t help but think about not aggravating the situation. This has been a very important victory in order to defend the championship. With a nine-point lead we are not guaranteed the title, but we are in a good position to achieve it.”
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